/ˈpɛlle ˈdɔka/ lit. ‘goose skin’
Italian idiom, everyday. Small bumps on the skin caused by cold, fear or a strong emotion.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Italian speaker.
How do people use Pelle d’oca
?
Everyday Italian, fine anywhere. You “have” it (“ho la pelle d’oca”), it “comes” to you (“mi è venuta la pelle d’oca”), or something gives it to you (“mi fa venire la pelle d’oca”). That last form also covers people who give you the creeps.
Pelle d’oca
in real sentences
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Ho la pelle d’oca.
I’ve got goose bumps.
Tatoeba, sentence by Valdast, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Tom mi fa venire la pelle d’oca.
Tom gives me the creeps.
Tatoeba, sentence by dnnywld, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Pelle d’oca
come from?
It’s a straight visual comparison: Italian Wiktionary says the name comes from the skin of a plucked goose, bumpy where the feathers used to be. The Treccani dictionary gives the medical name cute anserina and points to the similar “far accapponare la pelle”, which uses a capon instead. English goose bumps and French chair de poule (hen flesh) use the same farmyard picture.
Mistakes learners make with Pelle d’oca
Making it plural like English goosebumps. Italian Wiktionary notes it’s singular in this sense and takes the definite article, so it’s “ho la pelle d’oca”, not “ho pelli d’oca” or “ho pelle d’oca”.
Other Italian idioms like Pelle d’oca
Spot a mistake in Pelle d’oca
?
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