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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Idiomatic Expressions with Unusual Literal Translations
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. I'm John.
Ofelia: And I'm Ofelia!
John: This is Must-Know Italian Slang Words and Phrases, Season 1, Lesson 5. In this lesson, you'll learn idiomatic expressions with unusual literal translations.
John: Get ready to be surprised by the literal meaning of these expressions.
SLANG EXPRESSIONS
John: The expressions you will be learning in this lesson are:
Ofelia: fuori come un balcone
Ofelia: inscimmiarsi
Ofelia: avere le braccine corte
Ofelia: smanettone
John: Ofelia, what's our first expression?
Ofelia: fuori come un balcone
John: literally meaning "be out as a balcony." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "to be out of one's mind."
Ofelia: [SLOW] fuori come un balcone [NORMAL] fuori come un balcone
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Ofelia: fuori come un balcone
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when describing a person as insane or out of their mind.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Ofelia: [NORMAL] Marco è fuori come un balcone. [SLOW] Marco è fuori come un balcone.
John: "Marco is out of his mind."
Ofelia: [NORMAL] Marco è fuori come un balcone.
John: Okay, what's the next expression?
Ofelia: inscimmiarsi
John: literally meaning "having a monkey over myself." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "to get obsessed."
Ofelia: [SLOW] inscimmiarsi [NORMAL] inscimmiarsi
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Ofelia: inscimmiarsi
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when criticizing someone who is totally focused and obsessed by one object or person.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Ofelia: [NORMAL] Non ti puoi inscimmiare su quella ragazza! [SLOW] Non ti puoi inscimmiare su quella ragazza!
John: "Don't get obsessed with that girl!"
Ofelia: [NORMAL] Non ti puoi inscimmiare su quella ragazza!
John: Okay, what's our next expression?
Ofelia: avere le braccine corte
John: literally meaning "to have short, little arms." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "to be stingy."
Ofelia: [SLOW] avere le braccine corte [NORMAL] avere le braccine corte
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Ofelia: avere le braccine corte
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you want to express that someone is not very generous.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Ofelia: [NORMAL] Certo che Marco ha le braccine corte! [SLOW] Certo che Marco ha le braccine corte!
John: "Marco sure is stingy!"
Ofelia: [NORMAL] Certo che Marco ha le braccine corte!
John: Okay, what's the last expression?
Ofelia: smanettone
John: literally meaning "big throttle." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "computer geek, hacker."
Ofelia: [SLOW] smanettone [NORMAL] smanettone
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Ofelia: smanettone
[pause - 5 sec.]
John: Use this slang expression when you want to describe someone who is an expert at using and programming a computer.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Ofelia: [NORMAL] Chiediamo aiuto a mio fratello, lui è uno smanettone [SLOW] Chiediamo aiuto a mio fratello, lui è uno smanettone
John: "Let's ask my brother for help. He's a computer geek."
Ofelia: [NORMAL] Chiediamo aiuto a mio fratello, lui è uno smanettone
QUIZ
John: Okay listeners, are you ready to be quizzed on the expressions you just learned? I will describe four situations, and you will choose the right expression to use in your reply. Are you ready?
John: You can’t get over something.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Ofelia: inscimmiarsi
John: "to get obsessed"
John: Your friend always does some crazy things.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Ofelia: fuori come un balcone
John: "to be out of one's mind"
John: Computers have no secrets for this person.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Ofelia: smanettone
John: "computer geek, hacker"
John: Someone refuses to lend you some money for a coffee.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Ofelia: avere le braccine corte
John: "to be stingy"

Outro

John: There you have it; you have mastered four Italian Slang Expressions! We have more vocab lists available at ItalianPod101.com so be sure to check them out. Thanks everyone, and see you next time!
Ofelia: A presto.

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