L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano I t a l i a n w e a t h e r vocabulary has a way o f s o u n d i n g n i c e e v e n w h e n i t describes something inconvenient, and gelata (dje-lah-tah) is a good exam- ple. The word comes from the verb gelare, "to freeze," itself inherited from Latin gelare. At its simplest, a gelata is a f r e e z e : a n i g h t o r e a r l y morning when temperatures drop low enough for ice to form. In English, it is usually t r a n s l a t e d a s " f r o s t " o r s o m e t i m e s " a f r e e z e , " depending on context. It is the word you hear in local f o r e c a s t s , i n c o u n t r y s i d e conversations, and in news reports about agriculture, because the term is especial- ly tied to plants and crops. In everyday speech, Ital- i a n s o f t e n u s e g e l a t a t o describe a sudden cold snap t h a t l e a v e s c a r s f r o s t e d , grass stiff, and garden plants in trouble. Someone in a vil- lage might say, Stanotte c'è stata una gelata, meaning t h a t t h e t e m p e r a t u r e f e l l sharply overnight. Gelata is a very practical word: it does not suggest a snowstorm or a blizzard; it refers to that k i n d o f c o l d t h a t a r r i v e s 1 (you/tu) know 6 red 7 of 9 to win 10 chair 11 (I) enter 12 none; nobody 15 and (before a vowel) 16 cakes 17 wing Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 six 2 anger 3 axe 4 (they) touch 5 to smell 8 Friday 9 lived 11 (you/tu) enter 13 goddess 14 (he/she) uses after sunset and makes itself visible only in the morning, when roofs shine white, and w i n d s h i e l d s m u s t b e scraped before driving. B e c a u s e o f I t a l y ' s l o n g agricultural tradition, the word appears frequently in connection with vineyards, olive trees, and orchards. Farmers worry about a gela- t a t a r d i v a , a l a t e s p r i n g freeze that damages blos- soms just when the season seems to have begun. News- papers may report that la gelata ha rovinato i rac- c o l t i , m e a n i n g t h e c o l d h a r m e d t h e h a r v e s t . I n t h e s e c o n t e x t s , t h e w o r d d e s c r i b e s n o t o n l y t h e w e a t h e r b u t a l s o i t s e c o - nomic consequences. Italian also uses gelata figuratively. A sudden awk- ward silence after a com- ment can be called a gelata, as if the atmosphere itself h a d f r o z e n . T h e s e n s e remains the same: warmth d i s a p p e a r s , m o v e m e n t stops, and people become cautious. Dopo la gelata di aprile, g l i a l b e r i d i p e s c o n o n hanno fatto frutti. After the April frost, the p e a c h t r e e s p r o d u c e d n o fruit. LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Gelata: a freezing word that's dangerous for agriculture © Gstockstudio1 | Dreamstime.com 1 two 2 heart 3 to run 4 son 5 to look 6 Monday 7 hand 8 home 9 car 10 boy 11 father 12 river 13 light 14 bird 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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