Each Italian idiom below comes with what its words literally say, what it means and how other languages put the same idea. To see every language at once, open the side-by-side page for money and luck.
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lit. ‘for a crust of bread’
For a very small amount of money.
Elsewhere
- EN For peanuts
- FR Pour des cacahuètes
- DE Für ’n Appel und ’n Ei
- ES Por cuatro perras
- JA 雀の涙
-
lit. ‘to cost an eye of the head’
To cost a huge amount of money.
Elsewhere
-
lit. ‘buy in a closed box’
To buy or agree to something without checking it first.
Elsewhere
-
Nascere con la camicia
lit. ‘to be born with a shirt on’
To be lucky, often by pure chance.
Elsewhere
- EN Hit the jackpot
- FR Avoir de la veine
- DE Schwein haben
- ES Tener potra
- JA 棚からぼたもち
-
lit. ‘to cross the fingers’
To hope that things turn out well.
Elsewhere
-
Non dire gatto se non ce l’hai nel sacco
lit. ‘don’t say cat until it’s in the sack’
Don't count on a good result before it has actually happened.
-
lit. ‘when donkeys fly’
It will never happen.
Phrases in bold with a red marker are written up. The rest are waiting for their own page and a check by a native speaker.