traits of being Italian...

Escott

Gold
Jan 14, 2002
7,716
6
0
www.escottinsosua.blogspot.com
Italian Ways......

1- you've had at least one relative who wore a
black dress every day for an entire year after a
funeral

2- you spent your entire childhood thinking what
you ate for lunch was pronounced
"sangwich"

3- your family dog understood Italian

4- every Sunday afternoon of your childhood was
spent visiting your grandparents

5- you've experienced the scientific phenomenon of
150 people fitting into 50 square feet of yard for
a family cookout

6- you were surprised to discover that the FDA
recommends that you eat three balanced meals a
day, not seven

7- you ate macaroni (pasta for the non-Italians)
for dinner at least four times a week

8- you grew up thinking that no fruit or
vegetables had a fixed price at the
market................everything was negotiable
through haggling

9- you were forced to watch Lawrence Welk and Ed
Sullivan every weekend

10- you were as tall as your grandmother by the
age of seven

11- you never knew anyone whose last name didn't
end in a vowel

12- you thought that black nylons were supposed to
be worn rolled up to the knees

13- you were surprised to find out that wine was
actually sold in stores

14- you never ate meat on Christmas Eve or any
Friday

15- you thought that Catholicism was the only
religion in the world

16- you ate your salad after the main course

17- you were hit at least once with a wooden spoon

18- you thought every meal had to be eaten with a
hunk of bread in your other hand

19- you learned to play bocci before entering grade school

20- you can understand Italian but you can't speak it

21- you have at least one ancestor who was a cop, mobster or
baker!!!


22- you grew up thinking a toilet was called a
"buc-a-house"

23- you were surprised to learn that most kitchen
utensils had another name that didn't end in a
vowel

25- all of your uncles fought in a world war

26- you have at least six male relatives named
Tony, Nickie, Joey, Frankie, Mikie, and Johnny-boy

27- you drank wine before you were a teenager

29- your yard didn't have a patch of dirt that
didn't have either a flower or tomato/parsley/basil/
squash/pepper/eggplant growing on it

30- your grandparent's furniture was as
comfortable as sitting on sandpaper

31- you thought that speaking loud was normal

32- you thought that cookie cakes and the
tarantella were all common at all weddings

33- your mother was overly protective of the males in the
family
no
matter how old they were

34- every lunch meat you ate as a kid ended in a vowel

35- there was a crucifix in every room of the
house

36- sons never had to wash dishes because it was
considered women's work !

37- you weren't comfortable dating a boy unless
your father and brother approved

38- you know what lemon ice is

39- you know what real "black" coffee is

40- you always had chocolate and nuts with the
fruit course at dinner

41- meatball sandwiches were a standard lunch item

42- you never knew you could buy pizza from a store

43- eating out usually meant going to a relatives house

44- undershirts didn't have sleeves

45- most of the people that lived in your
"building" were related to you

46- everything tastes good with parmigiano

47- tomato sauce made with chicken wings was the best

48- you had coffee with lots of milk (latte cafe)
for breakfast by the time you were three years old

49- eggs were always fried in the middle of a
piece of Italian bread

50- left over cold spaghetti is one of the major
food groups

51- every girl was "make-able" except your sisters
and girl cousins

52- you wore a white suit with short pants when
you made your first holy Communion

53-you had to go to the 9 o'clock mass every
Sunday and sit with your class

54- nuns could see out of the backs of their heads

55- stickball was almost a religion

56- plastic furniture coverings were hot and
uncomfortable in the summer

57- air conditioning was sitting on the fire
escape or going up on the roof on hot nights

58- any adult could yell at you if you got out of
line

59- you only ate fried eels and bacala on
Christmas Eve

60- you only had a salami pie and Easter bread
(with the hard boiled egg in the crust) at
Easter time

61- honey balls (struffella) and bows were only
made at Christmas time

62- people actually celebrated name days

63- cookouts always had at least one tray of
baked macaroni

64- a trip to the beach required at least three
days of food preparation

65- you had a minimum of 20 relatives in Brooklyn
and the Bronx

66- there was no such thing as a piece of clothing
that could not be patched

67- most of the older women worked in dress making
"shops"

68- you never knew you uncle's name was Frank
until his funeral........everyone always
called him "Cheech"

69- you thought that "fat", "little", skinny",
"tall", "black", "bald", "baby", "big-nose",
"cock-eyed" were actually part of peoples given names

70- you couldn't believe that your non-Italian
friends didn't "scarpette" when they ate

71- at least one relative threw themselves on the
coffin at the cemetery

72- you wondered, why didn't everybody wear a
cross, miraculous medal, or a scapular
around their necks

73- you told everyone your mother was the best
cook in the whole world
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
16,050
418
83
Hahahahaha...stop your killing me! So true. Except I have changed a few.

36. I taught my sons to cook, wash dishes and cloths too :)
22. never used that saying
70. Not sure what that is.

But so funny. Going to send that to my relatives. They have advanced from the plastic sofa to the computer.
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
4,056
7
0
dr1.com
But Anna......

Itsa PASTA to Italians and Macaroni to non-Italians..........(as in Kraft Dinner!!!)
Pasta comes in a thousand shapes so when Momma sez "we're havin' pasta for supper you automatically ask "what kind!!"
or "With what???"
 

Diana

New member
Jan 1, 2002
97
0
0
Neither do I Anna, I never heard of that term. Is that right Momm C? I was raised in an Italian houshold and I can relate to most of the list but I agree to Anna's comments, except my brother only washes dishes when absolutely necessary!
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
4,056
7
0
dr1.com
Scarpette must be an obscure dialect!

I have no idea what it means.......not familiar with the dialect but then again I'm not Italian.....
I'll ask my better half - he's more familiar with the different dialects than I. To me "scarpette" is a "little shoe" (scarpe).
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
21,843
191
0
38
yahoomail.com
In the "NorthEnd" of Boston,Revere,Medford,Somerville,

Saugus,Italians don't use "Tomato Sause" on the macaroni,we use "Gravy"! You need to know if it's,"Zitti",or "Zitti" with lines!"Cristoforo Colombo"
 

Jane J.

ditz
Jan 3, 2002
1,263
2
0
Dang!

I tried to solve the scarpette mystery too, but no luck. But hey! It doesn't really make sense:

70- you couldn't believe that your non-Italian friends didn't "scarpette" when they ate?

Do Italians eat with little shoes as utensils? How strange...
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
21,843
191
0
38
yahoomail.com
I would like to take an "uneducated" guess.........

How about,"Soak up the "gravy" with your bread",and shove the bread in your mouth!Bread looks a little like a small shoe,and "scarf" means to shove the food in your mouth.Sounds good to me.Any "North Enders" on DR1,or South Philly"?CCYou forgot the most important "Italian Trait" for mem:"Grab" your "Dick" all the time!They have to check about every 5 to 10 minutes,nomatter where they are,or what they are doing!!!
 
Last edited:

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
4,056
7
0
dr1.com
Like I said Wud......

"little shoes" not just belly dance shoes. Maybe as Criss suggested Jazz meant "scarf it" as in "wolf it down" (eat quickly).
Have you ever noticed how quickly Italians (especially the men) eat!?!????
 
What are posts and Questions for?

I guess it is for us nerds to read and not to answer.
<img src="http://jimcarreyonline.com/board/graphics/grinchsmile60.gif">
Don't be such a grinch "Loud , fat ugly American" so sit back and relax "Don't have a Cow, Cowboy"
cowboytub.gif
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
4,056
7
0
dr1.com
Get real Jazz!!!!!!!!

Have you ever seen us "fat Mamma's" cook??????

Even when I'm only preparing supper for hubby and I, the kids can drop in unexpected with their kids and there's still leftovers!!!
Had company for supper on Sunday past (2extra people), the kids dropped in just as we were sitting down to eat so they joined us along with the grandkids. Everyone stuffed themselves then hubby and I have leftovers for supper the next night. Then the kids dropped in and 3 out of the 4 ate. I had what was left the next day for lunch. So......it has nothing to do with the quantity of the food.
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
4,056
7
0
dr1.com
Scarpette!!!

Aside from translating literally as "little shoe" in general vernacular means to dip ones bread in a condiment such as spiced olive oil, or olive oil with balsalmic vinegar, or also to "clean" ones plate with a hunk of bread so as to soak up all the juices or sauce. This from the "horses mouth" (my Italian born and raised husband).
Hope this clarifies it for all who didn't know - including Jazzcom - since he didn't provide us with an explanation. Hubby assures me that any "real" Italian would know what was meant by this "expression" however mange-a-cakes who are one or two or more generations removed from the "old" country and also small village inhabitants might not know the "common" meaning of the expression.
So there it is!!