L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano T h e I t a l i a n w o r d capriccio (cah- p r e e - t c h o ) h a s changed its mea- n i n g o v e r c e n - turies and if today we asso- ciate it to something we do on a whim, or to impulsive- n e s s , o n c e u p o n a t i m e i t also meant "discomfort." Its etymology is linked to capo riccio (curly head) and caporiccio, with two pri- mary interpretations. The first, more commonly used today, refers to a sudden and unpredictable desire, influ- enced by the ancient belief that curly hair was a sign of an eccentric or rebellious n a t u r e . T h e s e c o n d , n o w largely archaic, conveyed a sense of shuddering or revul- sion, as hair was thought to stand on end in response to fear or disgust. Some theo- ries also link capriccio to capro (goat), an animal his- t o r i c a l l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h unpredictability. The word appears in Italian texts as early as the 13th century in t h e s e n s e o f " u n e a s e " o r "shivering," and by the 16th century, it had taken on its modern meaning of whimsi- cal or sudden desires. I n e v e r y d a y l a n g u a g e , capriccio refers to a sudden desire or irrational whim. In Italian, one might say, Ha comprato quella macchina per un capriccio, meaning, 5 cheese 6 pens 7 with, in the company of 9 echo 10 green 12 ticket, admission to enter- tainment Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 lid 2 (they) love 3 needle 4 (you/voi) remember (to recall) 8 airplane 11 blue " H e b o u g h t t h a t c a r o n a whim." In art, capriccio refers to a fantastical composition that blends real and imagi- nary elements. The term was widely used in the 18th-cen- t u r y , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e works of artists like Gio- vanni Battista Piranesi, who created architectural c a p r i c c i — i n v e n t e d cityscapes featuring ruins and grand structures that never coexisted in reality. In music, capriccio describes a lively, free-flowing composi- tion that defies formal struc- ture. Baroque and Romantic composers such as Pagani- ni and Tchaikovsky wrote capricci filled with virtuosity and spontaneity, with one famous example being Paga- n i n i ' s 2 4 C a p r i c e s f o r Solo Violin, which chal- lenge musicians with unpre- dictable shifts in tempo and technique. I l b a m b i n o v u o l e q u e l giocattolo per capriccio, ma tra un'ora se ne dimenti- cherà. The child wants that toy on a whim, but he'll forget about it in an hour. Lo ammetto, non mi ser- v i v a u n a l t r o p r o f u m o costoso, l'ho comprato giu- sto per un capriccio Honestly, I didn't need yet another expensive perfu- me. I bought it on whim. LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Capriccio: when you want something … until you don't! © Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Dreamstime.com 1 shirt 2 head 3 to drink 4 mother 5 to eat 6 door 7 to turn 8 to look 9 face 10 bird 11 river 12 three 13 home 14 school 15 hand 16 table A C R O S S D O W N ITALIAN WORD SEARCH The solution to these word games will be available on the next edition. Games courtesy of Lexis Rex

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