Il degrado della lingua italiana

‘Englishisms’ plaguing the Italian language is so grave that it might (or should) have become already one of the most used pickup lines in, say, the library gild.

There are few things so jejune and defacing than saying (let alone writing) in Italian “il killer” instead of “il assassino” or “il sicario”. I really dont get it.

Reversely, a close language like Spanish (from Spain) seems to be quite resilient to this banale trend. Unfortunately, that doesnt mean that Spanish (in Spain) is not impoverished. It definitely is. Whereas in America Spanish is plagued by anglicisms but with occasional delightful flashes (typically, Iberian archaisms otherwise kept alive and kicking), in Spain itself it is just a plain, dull, language.

But at least we still say “Primera Dama”, dont we?.

I think we must remember that the influence of popular American culture and hence American English (rather than British English) has much to do with America as the liberating power.

If you think Italian newspapers got bad, you should check out Korean newspapers and compare them throughout the decades.

Che peccato – definitely tragic. And ironic considering how historically influential Italy used to be.

Perhaps ‘prima donna’ is a better translation of ‘first lady.’

So sad.

This article doesn’t even mention the two words that bug me the most in the Italian press: “partner” and “killer”. What about “amante” and “assassino”? They can’t say that Americans invented those concepts after all.