Italian profanity ("bestemmie" when referred to religious topics, "parolacce" when not) refers to a set of words considered blasphemous or inflammatory in the Italian language.
Italian language is considered a language with a large set of inflammatory terms and phrases, almost all of which originate from the several dialects and languages of Italy, such as the Tuscan dialect, which had a very strong influence in modern standard Italian, which is widely known to be based on Florentine language. Several of these words are cognates to other Romance languages, such as Portuguese, Spanish and French. Profanities differ from region to region, however a number of them are diffuse enough to be more closely associated to Italian language and featured in all the more popular Italian dictionaries.
Read more about Italian Profanity: List of Profanities in Italian Language, Profanity in Literature, Blasphemous Profanity
Famous quotes containing the words italian and/or profanity:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“Nothing, neither acceptance nor prohibition, will induce a child to stop swearing overnight. Teach your child respect for himself and others, that profanity can hurt, offend, and disgust, and you’ll be doing the best you can...And save your parental giggling over mispronounced curses for after the children’s bedtime.”
—Jean Callahan (20th century)