L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano T here are ways of saying no in Ital- i a n , a n d t h e n t h e r e i s g i a m m a i (jahm-mah-ee). It means "never," but a never with its chin raised, the kind of word t h a t b e l o n g s t o a d u e l i n g hero or a heroine refusing an unsuitable suitor. Dictionar- ies today label it literary or archaic, and indeed, it rings poetic to most. The word is simply two words joined together, "già" a n d " m a i " , w h i c h i s w h y older texts sometimes still w r i t e i t a s g i à m a i . G i à comes from the Latin iam, "already" or "by now," and m a i f r o m m a g i s , " m o r e . " Together they once meant something close to "ever, at any time." The same Latin pairing produced the French j a m a i s a n d t h e S p a n i s h j a m á s , s o a n I t a l i a n , a Frenchman and a Spaniard who swear they will never do something are all, in a sense, using the same expression. In medieval Italian the word did not have to be neg- ative at all. When Boccac- cio has a character ask, in the Decameron, "offesevi egli giammai?", the question is simply "did he ever offend 1 (feminine plural of) his, her, its 6 roofs 7 a, an 9 narrow 10 meal 11 (I) enter 12 (you/tu) walk 15 to the; at the 16 body 17 in the Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 south 2 age 3 (has) been 4 drawings; (you/tu) draw 5 four 8 horse 9 stomach 11 (you/tu) enter 13 with, in the company of 14 from the you?" Petrarch, in one of t h e p o e m s o f t h e C a n - z o n i e r e , l o o k s b a c k o n "quanto per amor giammai soffersi," everything he had ever suffered for love. Only over time did the word settle i n t o t h e s i n g l e , n e g a t i v e m e a n i n g i t h a s n o w . T h e older senses of "ever" and "sometimes" survive only in d i c t i o n a r i e s , m a r k e d a s archaic. Today, giammai is a pret- ty solemn way to refuse, so it's not the word you'd use to say, for example, that you never eat fish on Tuesdays. I t s m o d e r n l i f e i s e i t h e r e m p h a t i c o r p l a y f u l , a n d often both. Antonio Pennac- chi, in his 2020 novel La strada del mare, could still give a character the line Io di q u e l l ' a l t r o n o n m i f i d e r ò giammai ("I will never trust that other one"). In conver- sation, a single Giammai! is usually said with a theatrical flourish and a smile, the ver- b a l e q u i v a l e n t o f a h a n d pressed to the heart. It is a word that knows it is old-fashioned, and that's why it's so fun to use! Rinunciare al caffè dopo pranzo? Giammai! Give up my coffee after lunch? Never! Giammai: a very fancy "no" or some- thing more? (Photo: Carlo Dapino/Dreamstime) 1 book 2 to talk 3 three 4 shirt 5 friend 6 home 7 mother 8 bird 9 hand 10 heart 11 father 12 one 13 man 14 to hold 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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