L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano H ave you ever w o n d e r e d w h y , w h e n I t a l i a n s a n s w e r t h e p h o n e , t h e y a l w a y s s a y "Pronto?" First of all: what does that p r o n t o w o r d m e a n ? I t means, quite simply, "I am ready." And what does it have to d o w i t h a n s w e r i n g t h e phone? The origins of this habit are not too clear, but t h e r e a r e t w o p l a u s i b l e e x p l a n a t i o n s . T h e f i r s t brings us back to telephones' early years when, in order to make a call, you had to go through a switchboard and t a l k t o a n o p e r a t o r , w h o would connect you with your interlocutor. When a line became available and the conversation could start, the operator would say that the collegamento è pronto, that i s , " t h e l i n e i s r e a d y . " I n time, the use of the word "pronto" just extended to a n s w e r i n g t h e p h o n e i n general. A curiosity within the curiosity: in Italy, phone connections through opera- t o r c o n t i n u e d f o r l o n g - distance calls until 1970. T h e r e i s , h o w e v e r , another theory and it invol- ves the military. Straight after their inven- tion, phones were mostly u s e d b y m e m b e r s o f t h e army, often to connect offi- cials and their subordinates. I n t h i s c o n t e x t , s a y i n g " P r o n t o ! " ( r e a d y ) w h e n p i c k i n g u p m a d e a l o t o f sense, especially if you con- sider the peremptory tone Italians still use today when s a y i n g i t ! A n o t h e r t r i v i a about Italy and phones: the first phone connection in Milan took place between t h e F i r e S t a t i o n a n d t h e Townhouse. I t ' s f u n n y t o n o t e h o w Italy stands out from the rest of Europe — and indeed the world — when it comes t o a n s w e r i n g t h e p h o n e . From England to Germany, all the way to France and Spain, people say the usual "hello" when answering a call, even though each coun- try seems to have alternati- ves: for instance, in Britain a n d I r e l a n d , p e o p l e a l s o answer saying their phone number or their surname; t h e l a t t e r i s t h e w a y Germans answer to calls, too. In the Netherlands peo- ple say both their surname and name, while Russians use the French "Allo," or, quite simply, "Da" (yes). In Spain, many use "Diga," tell me along with, of course, "Hola". Outside of Europe the "hello" form is ubiqui- tous: in China, for instance, t h e y s a y " w e y , " i n J a p a n "moshi moshi," which mean just that, hello. But why the use of "hello" when answering the phone is so common all over the world? The answer is sim- p l e : t h e U S A . W h e n Alexander Graham Bell, who patented the phone in 1876, carried out his first experiments, he would use the expression "Ahoy, ahoy!" to understand whether there was anyone on the line and h e c o u l d b e h e a r d . S o o n , "ahoy" became "haloo," and then "hello," which, by the way, was also used to signal passengers to board their ship. Legends say that, in 1 8 7 7 , T h o m a s E d i s o n wrote a letter to the presi- d e n t o f t h e T e l e g r a p h Company in Pittsburgh sta- ting that using "hello" was the best way to answer the phone. Edison's advice was followed and, just a handful o f y e a r s l a t e r , w o m e n working as phone operators were known as "hello girls." All this to say the very word used in most of the world — even translated — to answer t h e p h o n e c o m e s f r o m America. Italians, sometimes, don't simply say "pronto," but add a peremptory "chi parla" or " c o n c h i p a r l o , " w h i c h means "who am I speaking with?" In the old days, when e v e r y o n e h a d a l a n d l i n e , c h i l d r e n w e r e t a u g h t t o always ask the name of their interlocutor when answering the phone, but today this necessity has become obso- l e t e : m o s t o f u s u s e c e l l phone, where callers' iden- t i t y i s a l w a y s k n o w n a n d m a n y m o d e r n l a n d l i n e handsets show phone num- bers, too. Cell phones changed the way Italians answer to calls also in another way: because of caller ID, people often tend to personalize the way they answer, depending on the person on the other end of the line. More often that not, though, they use the m o s t p o p u l a r o f I t a l i a n words: "Ciao!" I f you don't know how to use it, you don't know how to translate i t . T h e r e i s a l o t o f truth in these words, especially for terms like figu- rati (fee-goo-rah-tee), whose actual meaning has nothing to do with its etymology and is used in a thousand diffe- rent ways in our everyday speech. A first consideration to make is about figurati's tonic accent: we're talking here about figùrati and not about figuràti. The latter is the past participle (at its plural form) of the verb figurare, which means "to appear," "to be present," and even "to repre- sent," even though it isn't commonly used in this sense anymore, as raffigurare is usually preferred: we'd say q u e s t o q u a d r o r a f f i g u r a Vittorio Emanuele II (this painting represents Vittorio Emanuele II), rather than q u e s t o q u a d r o f i g u r a Vittorio Emanuele II. Right. Figurare is a pecu- liar verb, but figurati is even more peculiar, because its many meanings are often discernible only from voice intonation — or, of course, the context of the sentence — and have very little in com- mon with one another. Figurati can be used on its own, as an exclamation (figu- rati!), in which case it can express both surprise (I can't believe it!), or disbelief (in which case it can be transla- ted with don't be silly!). It can also used in sentences: in t h e s e c a s e s , s u r p r i s e a n d disbelief are also common meanings (figurati che non è nemmeno venuto all'appun- tamento— unbelievable! He didn't even show up to the meeting/ figurati se sa par- lare lo Spagnolo! — don't be s i l l y ! H e c a n ' t s p e a k Spanish). F i g u r a t i i s o f t e n u s e d instead of "prego" to answer when someone thanks you for something: "Grazie per l ' a i u t o . " " F i g u r a t i ! " — "Thanks for helping me." "You're welcome!"). Don't be surprised if you h e a r y o u r I t a l i a n f r i e n d s s a y i n g a l s o f i g u r i a m o c i instead of figurati: it's pretty common, too, and it means just the same thing! — L'ho fatto volentieri, figurati! — You're welcome, it was a pleasure — Figurati se ho tempo di andare in vacanza — Don't be silly, I have no time to take a vacation — Figurati, è stato bello aiutarti — Not a bother, it was nice to help LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: figurati… a word with a thousand meanings! Italian curiosities: Pronto… chi parla? "Pronto" in Italian means "ready" (Photo: CristinaConti/Dreamstime)

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