/la tʃiljeˈdʒina ˈsulla ˈtorta/ lit. ‘the little cherry on the cake’
Italian idiom, everyday. Something extra that makes a good thing even better.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Italian speaker.
How do people use La ciliegina sulla torta
?
Everyday Italian for the final detail that crowns something already good: a sunny day at the end of a great holiday, a goal in injury time. It usually follows essere: “è stata la ciliegina sulla torta”.
La ciliegina sulla torta
in real sentences
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Questo compito è la ciliegina sulla torta.
This task is the icing on my cake.
Tatoeba, sentence by carlosalberto, translation by carlosalberto, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does La ciliegina sulla torta
come from?
The picture is the single cherry placed on top of a finished cake. English Wiktionary links it to the English “cherry on the cake”, and its translation table shows the same cherry in French, Polish, Russian and Romanian, but we found no source that dates the Italian phrase or says which language had it first.
Mistakes learners make with La ciliegina sulla torta
Using the plain word ciliegia. The phrase always has the diminutive ciliegina, the small cherry, and “la ciliegia sulla torta” sounds off. Translating the English icing (“la glassa sulla torta”) doesn’t work either.
Other Italian idioms like La ciliegina sulla torta
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