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Italian expression of the day: ‘A quattr’occhi’

Just between us, this phrase is a handy one to know.

Published: 29 March 2019 17:54 CET

Italian expression of the day: 'A quattr'occhi'

Photo: DepositPhotos

Psst. Over here. Don't mention anything, but today's phrase is for when you need a little bit of discretion.

A quattr'occhi means, literally, 'between four eyes' – in other words, 'between the two of us'.

It implies a meeting both in person and in private, making it 'face-to-face' and 'one-on-one' at the same time.

Devo parlarti a quattr’occhi.
I need to speak to you in private.

Ero convinto sarebbe stato un colloquio a quattr'occhi.
I thought this was going to be a private conversation.

Ti dispiace se faccio una chiacchierata a quattr'occhi con il mio ragazzo?
Do you mind if I have a little tête-à-tête with my boyfriend?

It's not to be confused with quattrocchi, an irreverent term – 'four eyes' – for someone who wears glasses (and also the name of a bird and type of fish, apparently).

Quattrocchi also happens to be what Brainy Smurf was called in the Italian version of the cartoon (I Puffi), for reasons you can probably see for yourself.

Do you have a favourite Italian word you'd like us to feature? If so, please email our editor Jessica Phelan with your suggestion.

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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.

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