15 well-known Italian sayings and how to use them

You speak Italian well enough, but you are a smart learner looking for the next challenge and want to perfect her Italian fluency and sound like a native? Start to incorporate recurring Italian sayings into your daily vocabulary!

Some Italian sayings have sharp cultural or regional bounds, so it isn’t easy to figure them out without an in-depth knowledge of the Italian culture/background. The vast majority of Italian proverbs are just words of wisdom whose counterpart you can find in many different languages and cultures. 

The most effective way to incorporate sayings or idioms in Italian is to decide to learn the “transparent ones,” that is to say, the ones that have a literal translation in your native language: they simply make more sense are easier to retain. 

In this selection, I am pulling together a list of typical Italian sayings that I like to use in my everyday speech.

Do you want to learn more idioms? Try these Latin ones 12 Latin expressions Italian likes to use. 

 

1. Le bugie hanno le gambe corte 

Lies have short legs (lit.)

That’s, of course, an appeal not to lie because “lies have short legs.” What does it mean? It means that lying won’t get you nowhere because lies have “short legs” and so they can’t go a long way and won’t last long.

 

2. Piove sempre sul bagnato 

It always rains on the wet (lit.)

The closest English translation is when it rains, it pours. If in English, this sentence has just a negative connotation implying that things keep going wrong for someone already unlucky. In Italian piove sul bagnato has a positive connotation too. It also means that things keep going great for those who have already had good luck.

 

3. Occhio non vede, cuore non duole

The eye doesn’t see, the heart does not hurt (lit.) 

If you don’t see something you probably don’t want to know, you won’t suffer from it. So, what the eye doesn’t know the heart doesn’t grieve over.

 

4. Ogni lasciata è persa

Everything left is lost (lit.)

This Italian proverb is used to point out that if you haven’t been able to seize an opportunity when it arose, you will most likely miss it forever. It’s then used as an exhortation to take the chances when they arise, without pondering and postponing too much. 

 

5. Chi nasce tondo non può morir quadrato

Those who are born round, can’t die square (lit.)

This Italian proverb suggests that it’s complicated to eradicate bad habits and that it’s complicated, if not impossible, to change it.

 

6. Non si può avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca 

You can’t have a barrel full of wine and a drunk wife at the same time (lit.)

This proverb is good for those who struggle to make decisions. Sometimes to get something, you need to give up on something else. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Sometimes, you can’t have all you want simultaneously, but you need to give up on something. 

 

7.  E’ inutile piangere sul latte versato 

 It’s pointless to cry on spilled milk 

You can say this Italian saying to someone who’s been feeling sorry about something that has already happened, and so that can’t be changed – it’s of no use to cry on something that you can’t change!

 

8. Paese che vai usanze che trovi 

Every country you visit has different customs (lit.)

That’s an invitation to be tolerant of the customs of other cultures. 

That’s the Italian equivalent of the famous saying when in Rome, do as the Romans do. 

 

9. De gustibus non disputandum est (Latin) – Tastes differ 

Italy counts with a long list of Latin sayings that survived in contemporary Italian, like De gustibus non disputandum est(lit. tastes differ). It means that everyone is different and so has different tastes. We should be tolerant and respect other people’s feelings or inclinations. 

 

10. Mal comune mezzo gaudio

A shared trouble, a shared joy (lit.)

That’s an invitation to open up or share your trouble. If you share it, it’s less likely to overwhelm you, and your problem won’t seem so daunting. A trouble shared is a trouble halved. 

 

11. Chi ha tempo non aspetti tempo

Who has time, shouldn’t wait for time (lit.)

That’s something you can say to invite someone to stop procrastinating and put off until tomorrow what he can do today.  

 

12. La notte porta consiglio

 Night brings advice (lit.)

Some days we are presented with many challenges or important decisions to make. That’s why it makes more sense to sleep over it and take your choices in the morning with a fresh mind.

 

13. L’ospite è come il pesce dopo tre giorni puzza 

A guest is like the fish, after three days stinks (lit.)

I find it very funny and real. We all like to have friends and family around, but we don’t like it anymore if they stick around too long. 

 

14. Meglio soli che male accompagnati

Better alone than in the bad company 

This proverb can be used in a situation where one is not happy about doing something alone. It says that it is better to be alone or carry a task individually than in the company of someone that might harm your life, business, tasks.

 

15. L’erba del vicino è sempre più verde

The grass is always greener on the other side

That’s a saying that you can find in almost every language. The English have a literal translation of the Italian proverb. L’erba del vicino è sempre più verde means that we might think that our friends or neighbors verse in a better situation than ourselves, even though this is not true.