L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano I l b u o n v i n o f a b u o n s a n g u e , " g o o d w i n e m a k e s y o u r b l o o d g o o d : " Italians love to say it while pouring another glass of hearty red, often while d i n i n g w i t h f r i e n d s . B u t w h e r e d o e s t h i s p o p u l a r expression come from and is there any truth in it? A c c o r d i n g t o a n a r t i c l e published on the wine blog Wine Shop, this proverb is second in popularity, among w i n e l o v e r s , o n l y t o t h e super-famous Latin in vino veritas, "you'll find truth in wine." And iff you've been tipsy at least once in your life, you know how easy it becomes to speak your mind after a glass or two… But our buon vino fa buon sangue and in vino veritas have a lot more in common than being about wine: both have pretty ancient roots. It seems that il buon vino fa b u o n s a n g u e m a y b e a variation of another Latin expression, vinum laetificat cor hominis, or "wine makes the heart of a man happy," which is contained in Psalm 104, 15. Of course, to find those exact words you need to have the Vulgata handy, that is, the Latin version of the Bible, translated from the Greek by Saint Jerome in the 4th century AD. Contrary to what many people believe, t h e o r i g i n a l b o o k s o f t h e Bible had been written, very l i k e l y , i n A r a m a i c , t h e n translated into Greek and Hebrew. But Latin was the m o s t c o m m o n l y s p o k e n language in a large chunk of t h e E m p i r e , w h e r e Christianity had become the main religion, so there were Latin versions of the Bible based on translations of the "official" Greek and Hebrew books. The problem was that e a c h t r a n s l a t o r g a v e a personal twist to their work, often complicating things w h e n i t c a m e t o t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f b i b l i c a l ideas, something that the Pope didn't appreciate. It w a s , i n d e e d , t h e R o m a n c h u r c h h i e r a r c h y t o a s k Jerome to make an official L a t i n t r a n s l a t i o n o f t h e Bible, so that the faithful could refer to it univocally. I t w a s n a m e d V u l g a t a , w h i c h w e c a n t r a n s l a t e roughly as "for the people," b e c a u s e J e r o m e ' s w o r k w a n t e d t o b e c o m e t h e r e f e r e n c e b o o k f o r a l l Christians. And it certainly d i d , i f y o u t h i n k t h a t a l l world translations are based on it still today and that the Vulgata remains the official Latin version of the Bible. Why are we talking about textual history, you may ask, and not about wine? Bear w i t h m e , I p r o m i s e i t a l l makes sense! T h e V u l g a t a e n j o y e d great popularity among the f a i t h f u l f o r m a n y , m a n y c e n t u r i e s a n d t h i s i s important to know, because it was normal people like you and me who took the phrase vinum laetificat cor hominis - which, we saw, comes from the Psalms - out of its biblical context and began using it in their daily lives. They likely agreed with w h a t t h e a n c i e n t J e w i s h communities who wrote the Psalms believed about wine: that it could have a good e f f e c t o n y o u r h e a l t h o r , s o m e o t h e r s s a y , t h a t drinking it made you happy, and so your heart would be happy, too. Now, it seems to me that both versions could be true: drinking wine certainly can make you happy, and the Jews, just like the Greeks and the Romans, believed w i n e h a d m e d i c i n a l characteristics, so much so that its consumption was often prescribed by doctors, especially to improve blood circulation and the health of the heart. It's easy to see, then, how the short step from "wine makes the heart of a man happy" to "good wine makes good blood" happened. And y o u k n o w w h a t ? O u r a n c e s t o r s m a y h a v e b e e n r i g h t a l l a l o n g b e c a u s e research carried out some 2 0 y e a r s a g o i n E n g l a n d p r o v e d t h a t c e r t a i n components found in grape s e e d s a c t a s n a t u r a l v a s o d i l a t o r s a n d b e n e f i t both the heart and blood. T h e s e s u b s t a n c e s , c a l l e d p r o c y a n i d o l i c oligomers, are present in large quantities in wine, so you don't need more than a g l a s s a d a y t o r i p e t h e i r benefits. They are not the s a m e a s r e s v e r a t r o l , a n equally beneficial substance found in the skin of grapes, which however is found in very little quantities in wine. So,it seems that il buon v i n o f a b u o n s a n g u e f o r real! D i v i e t o ( d e e - v e e - a i - t o h ) means "prohi- b i t i o n " o r " i n t e r d i c t i o n " in English. It comes from the verb divietare, which was first attested in the 14th cen- tury, and that we no longer u s e t o d a y , p r e f e r r i n g t h e shorter version vietare. Of course, both old and "new" versions of the verb mean the same, "to prohibit." Divieto is an incredibly common word in our beauti- ful language, and it's very important if you are plan- ning to drive in Italy because y o u c a n f i n d i t i n m a n y expressions related to the codice della strada, the code of the road. For instance, you may come across a divieto di sosta sign, which indicates a no-parking zone, or a divieto d i s o r p a s s o o n e , w h i c h means that overtaking is for- bidden. But divieto can be used also in additional contexts, always with the same mean- ing. For instance, if you live in a condo, there may be a divieto to make loud noises after 10 pm or, when you go t r e k k i n g i n t h e A l p s , y o u may find signs stating that there is a divieto di caccia or divieto di pesca in the area, which means that hunting or fishing are not allowed. As you can see, the word divieto is truly ubiquitous in our language, and it is a very useful one to know, lest you end up in trouble with law enforcement! Indeed, there is a sense of officiality associ- ated with the term, so when y o u s e e i t w r i t t e n s o m e - where, or someone tells you there is a divieto to do some- thing, make sure you follow the rules at all times. When your Italian friend says c'è un d i v i e t o d i c i r c o l a z i o n e i n centro, non andarci con la macchina ("traffic is forbid- den in the city center, you can't drive there") it means you're going to get fined if you do. You've been warned! Fai attenzione, c'è un divi- eto di sosta! Careful, it's a no parking zone! Nel mio condominio c'è un divieto per i rumori molesti dopo le 10 di sera. Niente feste! Loud noises are forbidden in my building after 10 pm, so no parties! Il divieto di caccia è esteso a tutta la valle Hunting is forbidden in the whole valley. LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: divieto: a word we Italians don't like! Italian curiosities: why do we say that "il vino fa buon sangue"? Is it really true that good wine makes our blood good? (Photo: Raman Masei/Dreamstime) © Antonio Guillem | Dreamstime.com

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