Do Italians  really say "Forget about it."?
351595
No, Italians definitely do NOT say "Forget about it" (or any other variation like "Fohgettaboutit").\n\nThis phrase was only recently introduced in the 1997 film "Donnie Brasco", were it achieved instant popularity and was later reused in later films such as 1999 Mickey Blue Eyes and so on from that point forward.\n\nFirst and foremost, true italians would speak to one another in Italian at any given time, and the italian translation of "forgetaboutit" is certainly not a commonplace phrase in the Italian language.\n\nItalian-Americans on the other hand, might not speak Italian if they were raised in the U.S., and as we know average (non-Italian) Americans do not use ""forgetaboutit" in common  English conversations. Therefore the phrase is neither derived from the Italian or English language.\n\nFinally, the phrase is certainly not a mafia-only phrase. The true members of the real-life Italian Mafia (as you can verify from any FBI Most wanted record or any news clipping) are all direct immgrants from Italy and so naturally they speak to each other in their familiar old Italian dialect, especially when they have something secretive to say. This may confuse you since all the good movies like Goodfellas and Bronx Tale have everyone speaking English, but that's only because they are American movies intended for an American audience.
660692
The opinion of an Italian is NOT for the following reasons!ù\n\n1) The US already have problems at providing a proper education to the lower social layers of US CITIZENS\n2) Provided you're talking about ILLEGALS, as per definition, they are illegally in the US. Therefore, in principle, they are doomed to be sent back home as soon as they are caught, while teaching them English (at the expenses of ALL US CITIZENS, who may not have your same opinion on how the Govt. spends THEIR money) would encourage them to stay.\n3) Organizing lessons for them would be like justifying their presence in the US, giving them a hope that they will be eventually accepted (which will cause many others to come as they would know SOONER OR LATER, they would be legalized).\n\nIf instead you're referring to LEGALS, well if the government is not able to provide a proper education there is no point in letting them in, which brings us back to the previous point, i.e. let them where they are. \nIn the long term, the strategy you're suggesting would prove losing for both IMMIGRATES and LOCALS.\n\nOne more thing for all those who dropped in messages where they suggest that the ILLEGALS or LEGALS should learn language BEFORE they immigrate. Although my position on immigration is pretty rigid (not for preconceived ideas but rather for a series of other reasons, like keeping a positive racial balance between those who created the country as it is and those who're coming in to change the country in a similar way to that of the country they left, like many muslims are doing in Europe, where they are trying to turn most countries into a branch of ISLAM INC., as well as to prevent overfilling of a given country, which would cause dramatic consequences on the living style of people, with a subsequent raise in the cases of pure racism somewhat justified by the excessive amount of NEW immigrates coming in at all times), i would like to make you all notice that most of those immigrates are immigrating in our countries to WORK. This means that in their country they most probably don't have the money to eat; how can you pretend that they pay also english courses BEFORE they enter another country??? That is ridiculous, with no offense for anyone. The plain truth is that EVERY government should fix a given IMMIGRATION QUOTA, where the amount of immigrates allowed should COMPULSORILY FOLLOW COURSES OF LANGUAGE AND CIVILIZATION, to teach them which values that country is based on, rather than leaving them scattered all around. Also, those who refuse to integrate, should be sent immediately back home, without worring too much about civil rights and other crap.
747921
Yes I've noticed since the beginning.  It acutally bugs the living crap out of me!  I go to an Italian retaurant in Columbus, and there's a waiter who does the exact same thing.  He sounds like such a loser with his fake Italian accent.  It's kinda funny though.  But, Mario is just plain annoying.
316924
Asking why 'they' stopped talking about it, implies 'they' were talking about it at one point.  And I am not aware of anyone ever talking about this.\n\nSounds like a conspiracy to me.
1094666
Not Italian. International.\n\nOr Internacional. Your mileage... kilometerage... may vary.
574055
of course !\nLatin also mean any dialect of the language of ancient Rome.\nRome in Italy , it's mean Italy is a Latin country.
156388
I'm American and live in Italy - have for many years.  Americans think often that they are the best, but they don't see beyond the easy life many have there, the shopping, the everyday things.  In Europe we see life as being a part of the world - when things don't go well in other countries, it becomes our problem.  Even if things in America are going wrong, it affects us.  Unfortunately Americans are not as free as they think - they are not told many truths, and they think that they are being told the truth.  Don't want to sound like I am 100% right, but I feel that living in Europe, possibly Italy where I am, is not a worse life because of less money, but a better total life - with a deeper concern for what happens all over the world. At least our news is more honest, and people seem to know what is going on, and worrying more about it.  It makes life a little more realistic, and not just fun and games, which seems pretty common in the States (like I said, don't want to generalize - it's my feeling).
1017544
latin people probably won't use it as much\n\nor\n\nyahoo doesn't think about latin people\n\nno offense
428255
In Italy, there are different ways of telling the same thing to a person: \n1 The informal way of asking that is:\n  (TU)PARLI ITALIANO? (if you are talking to ONE person).\n  (VOI)PARLATE ITALIANO? (if you are talking to more than one).\n\n2 The formal way of asking that is:\n  (LEI) PARLA ITALIANO? (if you are talking to one person).\n  (VOI)PARLATE ITALIANO? (if you are talking to more than one.   \n  (It's the same as the informal, in this case).\n\nDo you know the difference between informal and formal?\nYou talk in an informal way with friends or your parents for example.\nFormal talking requires more politeness. For example, when you are talking to a older person or an important person.\n\n\nPS I'm Italian mother tongue.
625163
Yes, people in the UK use 'ain't'!!\n\nBut I think you'll have trouble proving that it's an American expression - cockney kids have been saying it for centuries!!
684510
Nope, you have to learn Italian
833243
Dear Father Damian:\nGood question.  When it comes to the English language who knows.  It's such an amalgamation of rules anyway.  I suppose it was because to say that something was lov-ed sounded awful.\nAsk the English Gods why.  They spared us the extra syllable to save us time, I guess, and for that deserve our praise and reverance.  Although I doubt they'll answer you if you ask them.  Remaining silent is how they retain their mystery and power over you, the common man in the street.
818181
Yes.\nIf you say no you forgot the history of USA
871843
ciao ciao - piacere! saluto da Filadelfia. sto molto bene.  e' Lei, come sta'? ho visitato Napoli e Capri due anni fa.\n\np.s. - relax Sue...remember this is the "Language section"
335324
Definitely not.  Italians have a flavor and love for life they are relaxed and genuinely enjoy their existence from what I have experienced while stationed there.
1160349
Keep your head on, don't let you be impressed by those bad jokes. They're usual, especially if British press is involved. Remember the trick they deserve to Sven (linked)!!!\nNever trust a columnist!!!\nHaving own team criticized isn't fair, but, as Italian, I've seen something going really too far:\n\n"There was outrage in Italian newspapers on Wednesday after German news weekly Der Spiegel published a satirical World Cup-related column on its Web site about the Azzurri entitled `Oiled up and greasy' which referred to Italians as 'parasitical forms of life'. \n\nThe article was later withdrawn and an apology posted on the Web site but that didn't stop the daily La Stampa declaring - `Italian parasites - that is how Der Spiegel prepares for the semi-final'."\n\nSo, don't be in anger. Their is definitively a dirty job...
823602
"not too much luminous you" or in other words.. not so brilliant, its italian