I'm currently reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert who writes an account of her year-long journey through Italy, India, and Indonesia. It is her love affair with Italian food, culture and language that I wholeheartedly relate to. She selected Italy as one of her destinations primarily to better learn the language; it was there she found her favorite word to say, attraversiamo. It means, "Let's cross over." Many Italians exchange this word when they are ready to cross the street. Ms. Gilbert goes on to explain how saying the word brought her great enjoyment and she looked for every opportunity to use it.
I stopped reading to laugh because, I too, have a favorite Italian word, prenotazione. Pronounced pray-noh-taht-zee-oh-nay, it means "reservation."
Like Ms. Gilbert's word, prenotazione is a pedestrian word -- nothing special about it. Still, I love the way this word sounds and the way it feels rolling off my tongue. It is a BIG word, making it even more special for the simple fact it is in my limited Italian vocabulary! Its connotation to travel could be another reason I like it so much -- a prenotazione for a flight (a reservation to GO somewhere ); a prenotazione for a hotel stay (a reservation to BE somewhere); a prenotazione for dinner (a reservation to EAT somewhere). However, it is less about its translation and more about the pleasure I get from saying the word -- it's a really COOL word!
Now, I have a prenotazione with my cellphone to make a prenotazione for tonight's dinner . . . Ciao!
