L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano S ome Italian words arrive wearing a jacket and tie, and g i a c c h é ( d j a k - kai) is definitely one of them! It is a conjunc- tion meaning "since," "as," or "seeing that," commonly used to give a reason every- one already takes for grant- ed. F o r i n s t a n c e , w e s a y : Giacché siamo in argomen- to, dimmi tutto ("As we're on the subject, tell me every- thing"), or Giacché sei qui, resta a cena ("Since you're h e r e , s t a y f o r d i n n e r " ) : n o b o d y i s a r g u i n g a b o u t whether you're there; that much is settled, and giacché simply builds on it, leaning on a fact already in plain view. Etymologically, it's quite s i m p l e t o g u e s s t h a t t h e word grew out of two smaller ones, già and che, "already" and "that," which over the centuries pressed together into one, acute accent and a l l , o n t h e f i n a l é . I f y o u think of it, that "already" n e v e r q u i t e l e f t , b e c a u s e g i a c c h é t a k e s s o m e t h i n g a l r e a d y o n t h e t a b l e a n d turns it into the ground for what comes next, it being a 1 bees 6 spider 7 I 9 lived 10 museum 11 (I) enter 12 (they) drive, guide 15 a, an 16 land 17 he Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 wing 2 anger 3 garlic 4 (they) can 5 to help 8 autumns 9 (you/voi) sell 11 (you/tu) enter 13 from the 14 us; we conclusion, a suggestion, or a request. Giacché keeps rather for- mal company, as it belongs with poiché, dato che and siccome, though it carries itself more stiffly than any of them, and these days it lives far more often on the page than in everyday talk. Its o l d e r , s p l i t - a p a r t f o r m , though, già che, is thor- o u g h l y a t h o m e i n speech, above all in già che ci sei ("since you're at it"), as in Portami un caffè, già che ci sei, or "Bring me a coffee while you're at it:" one small favor slipped neatly onto an errand someone was run- ning anyway. And so… when it's joined up, giacché sounds bookish and a touch old-fashioned; l o o s e n e d i n t o g i à c h e , i t b e c o m e s o n e o f t h e m o s t casual ways to request some- thing in Italian. Giacché lo conosci, pre- sentacelo! S e e i n g t h a t y o u k n o w him, introduce us! Già che stai andando al supermercato, compra della frutta Since you are going to the supermarket, buy some fruit please. Giacché: a word for fancy speakers © Dark1elf | Dreamstime.com 1 father 2 one 3 two 4 hand 5 girl 6 door 7 Monday 8 table 9 light 10 to turn 11 man 12 shirt 13 Tuesday 14 friend 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 LA VITA ITALIANA TRADIZIONI STORIA CULTURA

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