Our 46th edition of Street Sign Language Lesson. All these signs were seen in and around Bergamo.
TRASLOCO IN CORSO – ABBIATE PIETA’
“Moving in progress, show mercy”
Having moved recently, we completely understand the sentiment in this sign. Who likes moving?
Abbiate is the plural “you” imperative of the verb
avere - to have.
BASTONE DA PASSEGGIO. HO IL PIEDE BASCULANTE.
“Walking cane. I have an articulating base.”
This ad, seen in a
farmacia on via Tasso, has the walking cane talking to us telling us what it can do and its features.
Sto in piedi da solo – “I stand up by myself”.
Sono regolabile – “I am adjustable”.
The use of
basculante - “tilting” threw us off. We confess we did a Google search on this one and then figured out that the foot (
piede) of the cane articulates and tilts in different directions.
ACCHIAPPA GLI SCONTI. SCANSIONA E COLLEZIONA I QR CODE
“Catch the discounts. Scan and collect the QR codes.”
Acchiappare - “grab or snatch” is a word that never rolls off our tongue. It’s used in compound nouns like dreamcatcher or
acchiappasogni, fly swatter or
acchiappamosche (or
schiacciamosche which we like better!). And
Gli Acchiappagiochi - “the game catchers” is a
cartoon on RAI.
The verb
chiappare means the same as
acchiappare but is less frequently used and is more colloquial. The prefix “ac” means “to” or “towards” and intensifies the meaning of a verb it is used with, making it more emphatic. To add to our confusion,
chiappa means “butt cheek”.
Acchiappachiappa means butt catcher?
ATTENZIONE: PREGHIAMO CHI PASSA, PER FAVORE, DI USARE UN TONO DI VOCE RISPETTOSO DEL RIPOSO ALTRUI!
“Attention: We kindly ask those passing by to lower their voice to not disturb the sleep of others!”
This sign was seen on a posh residence on Via Valverde. I wonder how many people see the sign and lower their voices? After all these years, we still see the verb
pregare (
preghiamo – first person plural) and think “praying to people who pass by”? That is true in a religious sense, but also means to ask (
chiedere - to ask) in a courteous way. You might see this kind of request done less directly (and more impersonally) using the impersonal form
si prega as shown elsewhere in this post.
#NonCiCasco – CAMPAGNA PER LA PREVENZIONE DELLE CADUTE DALL’ALTO.
“I’m not falling for it – campaign for the prevention from falls from height”
We admit, this was a bit awkward to translate exactly. “Fall from height” seems to be used in the USA, for example, see this
NIH report with the abbreviation FFH. Okay, we'll go with that but, it doesn’t sound good to our ears. In Italian, the phrase
caduta dall’alta (plural
cadute dell’alto) is used.
The sign shown here was attached to scaffolding on Via Pignolo. There is a
campaign to raise awareness about work site injuries due to falls. The hashtag pulled apart becomes
(io) non ci casco, which means “I’m not falling for it” used when you don’t believe something, but in this case falling means literally from heights. Clever.
Cascare means "to fall, to fall down".
Cascarci means "to fall into a trap".
While we are talking about falls, let’s mention the interesting Marina Abramović show at
gres Art 671 called “between breath and fire” (14.09.24 - 16.02.25). The show includes the film “Seven Deaths”, of which one death is “The Jump” - speaking of fall from height. Arbamović falls in slow motion from a skyscraper in a fictious city. #LeiCiCasca?
La catechesi dei ragazzi anche quest’anno sarà il mercoledì alle ore 16:45 e il venerdì alle ore 15:00
“Children’s catechism this year will be Wednesdays at 4:45pm and Fridays at 3:00pm.”
La catechesi – means “catechism”. Don’t know what that means? It’s those strange afterschool teachings about the principles of Christian religion that one of us had to go to during 7th and 8th grade.
We saw this sign on the duomo in Bergamo. For the record, my lessons were on Wednesdays. I guess some things never change.
Se non disdici, paghi lo stesso
“If you don’t cancel, you pay all the same”
The healthcare system in Italy is known as the
Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN). It is a national, universal healthcare system that provides residents with free or low-cost healthcare services. This includes access to general practitioners, treatment at public hospitals, subsidized medicines, lab services, ambulance services, and certain specialist care.
One thing that can be frustrating in the Italian system is waiting times for appointments. Waiting time means the number of days that elapse between the date of booking and the date of the actual health service. The date that is provided to citizens is the first date available to carry out the requested service. Think skin check or colonoscopy as examples of services.
We learned from a retired doctor in Bergamo that booked appointments that are no-shows (up to 20% at one point) is a significant inefficiency in the system and contributes to longer waiting times. In the past, you could book an appointment and not show up. The sign shown in the photo is warning people that now you will pay if you don’t show up. This is thanks to a new law “Decreto Legge del 07/06/2024, n. 73”.
Disdire - “to cancel or annul”. Present tense:
disdico, disdici, disdice, disdiciamo, disdite, disdicono.
Si prega di mantenere controllato il monitor e attendere il proprio turno.
“Please keep an eye on the monitor and wait for your turn.”
Speaking of healthcare in Italy: one must get used to these monitors and their
split-flap display sound. The metallic flapping sound is artificial in these monitors and is only used to draw your attention to updates.
When this photo was taken, we were waiting for our turn to visit a doctor. Not all providers in the Italian healthcare system use these monitors, but many do (as well as other institutions). Waiting in Italy is sort of a national pastime.
You typically start your healthcare appointment by getting a ticket with a letter-number combination on it. This letter-number combination is what you are looking for on the monitors.
In this sign, you are advised to keep watching the monitor because the order that tickets were issued may not be the order of service. This monitor was seen in Bergamo’s main hospital:
ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII.
While waiting for our turn, I wondered about the grammar on this sign. In particular, I had a hard time with
controllato wanting instead to see
controllo. The phrase
si prega di mantenere can be followed by a noun, adjective or adverb. In this case,
controllato is an adjective and
il monitor is the thing on which an eye is kept.
Bet you didn’t know going to a doctor’s appointment could be so much fun.
