WORDS - Turin slang

There is an idiom running through our daily conversations, which assembles linguistic splinters - that at times live and die rapidly - and that we have all given our small contribution to. Institutionally and contemptuously defined "young people's slang", it is our language: a repertory of words able to animate conversations that would otherwise be extremely boring. To enable everyone to enjoy these expressions and to recognize the various types of characters, here is a mini dictionary,made especially for tourists of varying ages, for the young world of "mythical Turin"!

Advanced course in "giovaturin" (young Turin) (i.e. youth slang concentrates in the young Turin of the XXI century)

STEP N. 1: DIALOGUES

AT THE CAFÉ • Cia’ Toni, come ti butta? • Look, sono all’aceto. • Non ci stai proprio dentro oggi. Ma che t’ha fatto sclerare? • Sono chiusissimo. Ho cuzzato la mia tipa che si beccava con un altro. • Te l’avevo detto di fare cisti che era un pacco! • Sono preso tropo male, mi sento proprio un gaggio. • Tagliala, non è il caso che ti sdereni così, mica l’hai fatto tu il bordello. • Ma mo’ come la metto? • Scianti, ti do due dritte: ora scialatela un po’ e fatti vedere intrippato da qualche bella gnocca; se lei è ancora imbarcata, le piglierà strizza e ti baccaglierà di brutto per scusarsi. • Grazie fratello, sei troppo un serio!	•Hi Antonio, how are you? . I'm really tired. . It seems your mind is elsewhere. What's worrying you? . I'm sad and thoughtful. I discovered my girlfriend with another bloke. . I always told you to watch out because she could betray you! . I'm desperate, I feel really stupid. . Stop it, you mustn't blame yourself like this: it wasn't your fault. . And now, how do I solve the situation? . Relax, I'll give you some advice: don't worry and show some interest for other good-looking girls. If she still loves you, she'll be afraid to lose you and will start to be kind to you asking to be forgiven. . Thanks my friend: you're really wise!
AT THE DISCO . Oh socio, ma ti ripigli? . Dai oh, non mi chiudere! Mi sto scialando con 'sto pezzo! . Sì, ma stai tranzollo! . Oh, ma stai easy! . Hai visto 'sta tipa? Mi attizza troppo! . Dai, è troppo gnocca per te!	. Hey friend, wake up! . Don't care about me, I'm listening to this song. . Take it easy. . You, take it easy too. . Have you noticed that girl? She is really beautiful. . Let's say she is too beautiful for you.
GOING AROUND . Bella! . Ciao socio! Come butta? . Look sono all'aceto. . Che si fa? . Poche cose, pochi sbattoni, perché ho zero benza! . Dai oh, non mi chiudere, sei proprio un mozzone! . No, zero! Non esiste! . Allora svacco alle panche? Sì, ma che abbiocco!	. Hi! . Hi! How are things? . I'm very tired. . Where are we going today? . We are not doing much, we are not going far as there is not much petrol in the car. . I don't agree with you, you 're a bit tight! . No, I am not changing my mind. . Let's spend soma time meditating on the park benches? We'll get bored...
ON THE ROAD • Ohi vecchio, figata ‘sto tuo nuovo motorello!! • Sgasa di brutto, zio fa’… altro che il catorcio di bici che c’avevo! • Con quella ciofeca, anche se scannavo a manetta, mi sentivo uno sfigato. • Ma non c’hai caga a guidarlo? • No, è uno sballo! • Dai, allora mi dai uno strappo? • Schiaffati il casco e si va!!	• Hi there, what a nice new scooter you ‘ve got!! • It goes really fast, certainly a lot better that my oldone! • With that wreck, even if I managed to go fast, I used to feel anonymous • Aren’t you afraid to ride it? • No, its really great fun! • Then will you take me for a ride? • Put your helmet on and we’re off!!

STEP N.2: THE AUTHORS... TYPES OF PEOPLE WHO SPEAK YOUNG SLANG

Tamarro
Tamarro, also called zamarro,tarro, zarro, iamarruso, zamatruzzo or tabbozzo, is easy to recognise by his fluorescent jacket like the ones that road workers wear, very tight jeans and sneakers, so strange that even an astronaut would envy them. His hair is full of gel and he usually wears sunglasses even when the sun is not out. The best representative of this group is always artificially tanned all year around, so he appears always to be on holiday! His favourite music, that is to say techno, disco, and hard core is more commonly known as "tunz -tunz".

Emo
Everything is negative for the Emo type! And so he wears dark, straight hair with a fringe over his eyes, a lot of black eye pencil dark eye powder and loads of mascara! His clothing: jeans or other materials in any case the trousers must be skin-tight and the shoes should be old All Star sneakers.

Cabinotto
He is the traditional son of the wealthy Turinese families: he wears brand name, expensive clothes, he goes to private Grammar schools and he is a PR for exclusive parties. Often he has an angel face but, underneath he is often bad. He loves sailing and often plays golf and tennis, obviously in his private club or in his garden!!

Chic
Definitely female. She is always well dressed and on a diet, because she has to fit into a size ten.She wants to be impeccable on every occasion and, therefore loves matching accessories like shoes and bags. She always wears high-heeled shoes and she adores fashion magazines like Vogue where she dreams of working like the main character in her favourite film "The devil wears Prada".

Fricchettone
He is the Tamarro's worst enemy, he ia an alternative boy, neo hippy.He wears ethnic clothes and often has dreadlocks in his hair. He is keen on mystical philosophy, anthropology and preaches peace in the world. He loves everybody and easily makes friends. He usually buys in eco and substainable shops and he loves biological food. In his free time he loves juggling and he plays the djembè drums. The best Fricchettoni also practice yoga and are macrobiotic vegetarians.

STEP N.3: THE EXPERT’S ADVICE
If someone ever addressed you by saying: "scrostati gaggio!" how would you react? To avoid smiles of circumstance or perplexed expressions, we suggest you have a look at the "Dizionario storico del linguaggio giovanile" (dictionary of young people's slang) edited by UTET, actually entitled "Scrostati, gaggio!" i.e. "Move over, idiot!".
One of the dictionary's authors Renzo Ambrogio, gave us some advice and curiosities.
When and how does the language we call of the young come into existence?
In Italy, a language belonging specifically to the young is fairly recent. After the war there was a student jargon, but it was only spoken by few since school was still accessible only to an elite. Only from 1968 onwards does a language spoken by youth begin to spread on a large scale. It is linked to student protests and thus is rich in political, social and value based terminology. The real explosion of this jargon dates later still, at the end of the 70s and during the 80s, when there were punks, "paninari", and the beginnings of rap and of the squatter movement.
What are the themes and characteristics of juvenile slang nowadays?
The main topics are school, sex, light drugs and partly politics, especially within pacifist and no global groups.We witness the fragmentation of tendencies, thus rigidly defined entities such as punks or "paninari" no longer exist.
How does a "young word" form?
Young people's language often arises bottom- up: usually the suburbs, following a rather unusual dynamics, influence the centre. This could be because that is where a stronger need for identity is felt. In this jargon colloquial Italian merges with special and sector related lexicons, terms from long lasting juvenile jargon like beccare, benza, bestiale, cacciare, casino, cuccare, fottere, fregare, gaggio, giusto; also short-lived terms, usually highly innovative, and many expressions borrowed from dialects. In the latter, dialectal forms from other areas, especially southern ones, enter the slang of Turin's, Milan's and Genoa's youths, whilst respecting on a linguistic level the complex social dynamics involved in the migration from the South to the North of Italy. For example, words like: abbummamento, babbo, babbione, bambascione, ciddonare, cunno, minchia, frate, fungia, lambascione, pacchio, pucchiacchia, spacchiuso. On the other hand, the contribution of foreign languages, especially English and Spanish, which are used widely by rappers, is also important. The media don't seem to have a great influence on juvenile jargon; television for instance is not a source of new words but rather a means for their diffusion.
In which books, songs, web sites, can we find a significant use of this language?
Authors like Pier Vittorio Tondelli, Silvia Ballestra, Niccolò Ammaniti, Isabella Santacroce, Enrico Brizzi, Giuseppe Culicchia, Aldo Nove, Paola Mastrocola, were all important for our work; among songwriters Elio e le Storie Tese, the Colle der Fomento, the Articolo 31, the Sottotono, the Skiantos.

STEP N.4: THE YOUNG WORDS MOST USED IN TURIN

Here are some definitions taken from the "Dizionario storico del linguaggio giovanile" (dictionary of young people's slang) published by UTET:

Baccagliare, verb. To court, to woo (mostly in the form "baccagliarsi qualcuno"). "Masonti is really fantastic. Not only does he teach me new things, he also explains old ones I still haven't understood. Like that 'cipollare' a girl means to touch her. 'Baccagliare' instead means to court her". (Mastrocola, Barca nel bosco, p. 94)

Cicles (var. chicle, cickles), noun. Chewing gum. "In the meantime, she blows a big pink bubble with her 'chicle' and then bursts it". (Serra, via Millelire, p. 31) "They take the lock's imprint by putting a 'cicles' in the hole". (Littizzetto, Pisello, p. 73)

Cisti, 1 adjective. Beautiful, great, cool;
2. To express admiration, approval etc.; used in the Turin area from Dizionario del parlato giovanile: "I've bought some new shoes 'Cisti cisti' !".
3. To call for attention, ask for silence or to invite someone to calm down; from Badacomeparli for northern sources and, in Turin's area, from Dizionario del parlato giovanile and Truzziario:"'Cisti',madam!"
4.Fare cisti: to behave cleverly,with intelligence; to be careful, pay attention; registered in the Turin area by Truzziario: "Huh, this time I'll be careful. This time I'll 'faccio cisti'".

Muzzo, used in the expression A muzzo: randomly, casually.

Sclerare, verb. to go wild, crazy, become mad; (ofter used in hyperboles). "He teaches me the word 'sclerare'. He says it's a word you can put wherever you like and you impress people. For instance, if a friend says he's tired and doesn't want to go out, you say: are you 'sclerato'?! Or, when talking about your mum constantly checking your homework, you say: my mum makes me go mad!! If you go to bed at three and get up at seven zonked: if I don't 'sclero' today, I never will!" (Mastrocola, Barca nel bosco, p. 92)

Tagliare, verb. To play truant. "Also this morning 'ho tagliato' and I went into town... the fact is we had electronics and I hate it". (Montrucchio, Cardiofitness, p. 49) "I'm waiting for Franz to appear in front of school on his mum's black Mercedes. He wasn't on the train but I'm sure he won't 'play truant'.We don't have any oral tests in sight." (Culicchia, Paese, p. 111)