lo smacchiatore
Parola del giorno | Word of the day
My favorite Italian words to pronounce are those that begin with s + consonant, like our example today, lo smacchiatòre.
Uno smacchiatore is a stain remover - a product you might use on clothes that you might have gotten some tomato sauce on…or perhaps some olive oil?
The word smacchiatore comes from the Italian word màcchia, which means stain. The s- before the word smacchiatore changes the meaning of many adjectives, nouns, and verb much like the use of the English prefix un- or can indicate an opposite action or meaning.
Here are a few examples that came to mind:
conosciuto known
sconosciuto unknown
gonfiare to blow up (with air)
sgonfiare to deflate
la fiducia trust
la sfiducia mistrust, distrust
contento happy
scontento unhappy
vestirsi to get dressed
svestirsi to undress
Can you think of any others? Please comment below!
Sfortunato
sfare . Although I asked a Pugliese the other day if they ever used that word and they said "no." But it is in the dictionary. So, you know, must be sconosciuto.
Also: sfiga.
And finally: remember that sforza is not the opposite of forza.