Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Ci mancherebbe’

Need some assistance with this confusing phrase? We're happy to help.

Published: 11 January 2019 17:37 CET
Updated: 21 July 2023 11:45 CEST
Italian expression of the day: 'Ci mancherebbe'
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Confession: ci mancherebbe (pronounciation here) still makes my brain hurt a bit. 

I first encountered it in restaurants, where it would come in reply to my requests for another bottle of water or an extra plate. “Is that a… yes?”, I wondered.

It was, but it took me a little while to work out why.

The full phrase is ci mancherebbe altro, which literally means ‘something would be lacking otherwise’. In other words, waiters were telling me that there’d be something terribly amiss if they weren’t to give me what I asked.

In contexts like this – when you’re responding positively to someone’s question – ci mancherebbe means ‘certainly’, ‘of course’, ‘by all means’.
 
Or when you’ve just done them a favour and they thank you, you can use it to tell them ‘don’t mention it’, ‘it’s no trouble’.

– Posso prendere in prestito questo libro?
– Ci mancherebbe!
– Can I borrow this book?
– Of course you can!

– Grazie mille per essere venuto.
– Ci mancherebbe.
– Thank you so much for coming.
– Don’t mention it.

Apart from politeness, ci mancherebbe carries the connotation that the answer to the question is natural or inevitable. So it can also serve as a synonym for ‘obviously’.

But here’s where it gets really confusing: the same phrase can also mean the exact contrary: ‘obviously not’. 

If someone makes an ask of you that you think is out of order, for example, you might indignantly reply “Ci mancherebbe!” to mean that you think they’re out of line (‘something would be amiss’ if you granted their request).

– Posso prendere in prestito questo libro?
– Ci mancherebbe altro, non pensarci nemmeno!
– Can I borrow this book?
– Of course you can’t, don’t even think about it!

It doesn’t always have to be an answer, either. You can use it more generally to express your displeasure about something, like saying ‘that’s the last straw’ or ‘that’s the last thing we need’.

– Non mi saluti dopo tutto quello che ho fatto per te…? Ci mancherebbe!
– You don’t even say hello to me after all I’ve done for you…? That’s the last straw!

– Una gomma a terra, ci mancherebbe altro!
– A flat tyre, that’s all we need!

While those examples relate to something that has already happened, you can also use it to talk about something you don’t want to happen. Ci mancherebbe can also mean ‘heaven forbid!’

– Non vorrei impartire lezioni a nessuno, ci mancherebbe.
– I don’t want to give anyone lessons, heaven forbid. 

– Ci mancherebbe che facessi gli stessi errori.
– Heaven forbid you make the same mistakes. 

NB: ci mancherebbe che… (‘heaven forbid that…’) should be followed by the subjunctive, as you’ll see in the second example above.

You see my confusion? My advice is not to think about the literal meaning too much: just think of ci mancherebbe as an expression of emphasis (‘yes, of course!’ or ‘of course not!’), and go by tone and context to judge which.

Or just wait and see what your waiter brings you.

Do you have a favourite Italian word, phrase or expression you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

Did you know you can get all our Italian words and expressions of the day on our new app as soon as we publish them? It takes a few seconds to download the app at the Apple or Android store, then you can select “Italian Word of the Day” in your Notification options via the “User” button.

For members

ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Bega’

The meaning of this Italian word is rarely disputed.

Published: 9 September 2024 08:51 CEST
Italian word of the day: ‘Bega’

If you’ve spent some time in Italy, especially in the north of the country, you may have heard Italian speakers saying something similar to the English word ‘beggar’. 

The Italian word bega (hear it pronounced here) means a squabble, a quarrel or an argument. It’s a synonym of litigio or lite.

Abbiamo avuto una bega e non siamo più amici.

We had an argument and we’re no longer friends.

Lei e suo marito sono nel mezzo di una bega.

She and her husband are in the middle of an argument.

In its plural form, the noun transforms into beghe (hear it pronounced here).

Non voglio beghe.

I don’t want any arguments.

Vecchie beghe familiari rendono il rapporto difficile.

Old family disputes make the relationship very difficult.

As a secondary meaning, you can also use bega to say ‘hassle’ or ‘bother’ .

Questo scioglilingua è una bega da dire.

This tongue twister is a hassle to say.

È una bega lavorare con persone stupide.

It’s a bother to work with stupid people.

As with a lot of Italian nouns, bega has a corresponding verb: begare, meaning ‘to argue’ or ‘to have an argument’. 

Stiamo begando.

We are arguing.

However, this is rarely used, with most native speaker preferring to add the verb avere in front of the noun bega.

Hanno avuto una bega sulla politica.

They had an argument about politics.

Next time you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of arguing with someone, or something is really bothering you, you may take comfort in the fact that you have a new Italian word to describe what’s going on. 

Do you have an Italian word you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

Don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day by downloading our app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Italian Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.

SHOW COMMENTS