Sensi vattene (graffiti)

[DesertCat]

I recently visited Italy and took a lot of the photos. One of the building photos has the following graffiti:

sensi vattene!

I gather from my google searches it means "get lost" but I'm unclear on who (or what) this would be referring to. There was another bit of graffiti "irlanda libera" which I assume is "free Ireland" but I didn't think the two were related as the writing style and color weren't the same.

~Alice

P.S. I'm only a beginning student of the Italian language

 

[Italian Girl]

Dear DesertCat, Sensi is the chairman of Roma football team and vattene means go away! Clearly the person who wrote that doesn't appreciate Sensi's politics in football and want him to retire! Bye and good luck with your studies of Italian!

 

[Silvia]

football = soccer
Irlanda libera = Ireland free

 

[DesertCat]

I have another one that is "*&#$% lazio" (where *&$% is saying that lazio is no good) but is Lazio a person or city. I believe this one is also soccer related. It would seem some Italian are passionate about their soccer.

I'm determined to learn Italian in spite of the fact I'm 45 and have no memory so it's not easy for me. While I enjoyed my trip to Italy immensly I felt like I would have gotten more out of it if I spoke better Italian. I'm planning to go to one of the schools for immersion lessons next year.

~Alice

 

[Italian Girl]

Yes, Lazio is the other soccer team of Rome, and those symbols before the name probably stand for a swear word that I cannot write here! Supporters tend to be very passionate in Italy, especially against opponent teams! Glad you want to learn Italian, I'll help you as much as I can in this forum!

 

[Focalist]

football = soccer

NO! football = football!

90% of the world calls it football. Don't be browbeaten by a bunch of unilateralists, Silvia...

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11038#post11038

F

 

[carlafed]

Hi Alice
Lazio is the region where Roma is located and it is also the name of the second soccer team of Rome (the first is simply called Roma). Yes, some Italian are extremely passionate for soccer, rather crazy I would say ;-))

Congratulations on your determination to learn Italian. I am older than you and I am presently starting to learn Chinese ... I like it so much !
There was a famous Italian TV program when I was a child (ages ago ;-))
called "Non è mai troppo tardi", which means "It is never too late".
It was addressed to adult illiterate people that were numerous at the time.
But yet I think this is my spirit, even in learning new languages.
Good luck and do not hesitate to ask, even privately.
In this forum, people are very helpful

 

[DesertCat]

Italian Girl,

Actually, I replaced the word you can't write here with the symbols. The actual word (m****) was there. I have a slang reference book.

Do Roma and Lazio have nicknames for their teams? In truth I don't follow football/soccer (American or otherwise). I'm a baseball fan.

I'm glad I found this forum because in spite of all my Italian reference materials (I have dozens of books) I still have trouble finding answers to some of my questions.

~Alice

 

[carlafed]

NO! football = football!

90% of the world calls it football. Don't be browbeaten by a bunch of unilateralists, Silvia...

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11038#post11038

F

Thank you, Focalist. For Italian people, our 'calcio' is football and nothing else.
Unfortunately American do not understand football the way we (rest of the word) do. At least that is my experience :-(

A doubt Do you say 'American do not... ' or 'Americans do not ...' meaning American people ??

Thank you so much

 

[Focalist]

Thank you, Focalist. For Italian people, our 'calcio' is football and nothing else.
Unfortunately American do not understand football the way we (rest of the word) do. At least that is my experience :-(

A doubt Do you say 'American do not... ' or 'Americans do not ...' meaning American people ??

Thank you so much

You will always be right, Carla, if you say "Americans do not understand".

F

 

[Silvia]

F, if you talk to some American about football they will think you're talking of something else, that's my personal experience too. Talk about soccer and they will know what you mean! It's just a word I use with American people, but I know it should be called football.

 

[Focalist]

F, if you talk to some American about football they will think you're talking of something else.

I know, Silviap. But I think you should not baldly write "football = soccer", but something like "football is called soccer in North America".

If you talk to most Britons and start calling their national sport (a.k.a. The Beautiful Game) soccer, you can expect to be greeted by derision at best, and anger at worst...

F

 

[Italian Girl]

Do Roma and Lazio have nicknames for their teams?

Well, yes, some Italian teams have nicknames, for example people use to refer to Rome football team as " 'a maggica" (with the typical accent of Rome inhabitants) or "magica Roma", that is "magical Roma", "wonderful Roma" or something like that. I think that this team is even called "la lupa", that is "the female wolf", to recall the ancient legend about the birth of the city...

 

[lsp]

Focalist, I'm sure you meant no double entendre by truncating the sentence to the general, "Americans do not understand."

Silviap, you may also say "America does not understand," referring in the singular to the entire American people.

 

[Silvia]

It was Carla!

 

[lsp]

Yes, of course, I see it was Carla. Sorry...