L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano S e m m a i ( s e h m - m y ) p r e n d i a m o un taxi: an Italian m i g h t s a y t h i s w h e n t h e b u s i s late or the walk looks longer than expected: "If necessary, we'll take a taxi," or, more conversationally, "We can always take a taxi." Nothing has been decided yet; the taxi is simply the backup plan, and semmai is the word that puts it there. W r i t t e n a s o n e w o r d , though se mai is also possi- ble, semmai comes from se, "if," and mai, "ever." It is pronounced with the stress at the end, and its translation changes with the sentence. At its most literal, it intro- duces an unlikely or uncer- t a i n p o s s i b i l i t y : S e m m a i cambiassi idea, chiamami m e a n s " I f y o u h a p p e n t o change your mind, call me." Remember that the doubled m is audible in speech. In everyday conversation, semmai often means "if nec- essary," "if needed" or "at most." Consider Non chia- marmi; semmai ti chiamo io: "Don't call me; if neces- sary, I'll call you," can make a suggestion sound less fixed, as well. Possiamo vederci domani, semmai, becomes "We could meet tomorrow, if 1 waves 3 tall; high 7 (feminine of) his, her, its 8 friends 9 (you/voi) cough 13 west 1 5 ( f e m i n i n e p l u r a l o f ) m y , belonging to me 16 (you/voi) give 17 bulls Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 bone 2 (we) give 4 he 5 hatred 6 (you/voi) pass (from one place to another) 10 time; weather 11 north 12 yesterday 14 east that works," with the final word leaving room for the other person to decide. Its close cousin casomai can often replace it. Its other common job is correction, and here the best English equivalent is usually "if anything." Someone says a friend seemed angry, and you reply: Non direi che era a r r a b b i a t o ; s e m m a i e r a stanco ("I wouldn't say he was angry; if anything, he was tired." The speaker is a d j u s t i n g t h e d e s c r i p t i o n without making a production of the disagreement. In this u s e , s e m m a i i s c l o s e t o "rather" or "on the contrary," depending on context. O n e t r a p f o r E n g l i s h speakers is the resemblance to "sometimes," which sem- mai does not mean. "Some- times" is a volte or qualche volta, while "someday" is usually un giorno. To say "Sometimes I go to the sea- side," use A volte vado al mare, never Semmai vado al mare. Semmai cambiassi idea, chiamami. "If you happen to change your mind, call me." N o n d i r e i c h e s i a scortese; semmai, è un po' distratto. Semmai: the little word that keeps an option open © Dark1elf | Dreamstime.com 1 to turn 2 woman 3 to talk 4 son 5 Monday 6 head 7 mother 8 to hold 9 boy 10 river 11 father 12 one 13 to drink 14 man 15 light 16 hand 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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