I’ve always loved the folk wisdom of Sicily. I grew up hearing snippets of sayings from my Sicilian grandparents. When I was younger, I used to find them a little tiresome and preaching.
But since moving to Sicily, hearing them in everyday conversation and I've been able to understand them better. Thanks to these detti Siciliane I've even picked up a little Sicilian dialect, which isn't easy.
A friend of mine once said after visiting Sicily for the first time: Now I know what the difference is between Italian and Sicilian dialects. With Italian I can understand maybe every second word. But with Sicilian, I can't grab one single word, especially if a group of Sicilians are talking in amongst themselves.
I couldn't agree more, the dialect came about very much to exclude the foreign invaders from everyday conversations. Its a clever defense mechanism.
Yet deciphering and understanding Sicilian sayings give us a sense of the true Sicilian personality. Which is very down to earth, wise and hilarious.
So I'm going to try and post every week with a new saying, do my best to break it down and translate it. I hope you enjoy my attempts, eventhough I'm still very much a foreigner. After two decades on the island I've only managed to master a rudimentary level of Sicilian.
Read more on the blog link below
https://sicilyinsideandout.com/2021/12/01/sicilian-sayings-giuseppe-pitre
