In this short lesson, we will learn the meaning of the Italian proverb Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio along with its pronunciation. Do you like fairy tales? Then this idiom is for you.
Let’s get started! Iniziamo!
Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio
Meaning of the proverb
Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio can be literally translated as “the wolf loses its fur but not its bad habits”. It is equivalent to the English idiom a leopard can’t change its spots. It means that no matter what you do, you can’t change your nature.
Linguistically speaking, this idiom can be broken down into…
- il lupo (the wolf)
- perde (loses, from perdere, to lose)
- il pelo (the fur)
- ma non (but not)
- il vizio (the vice, the bad habit)
Vizio is the opposite of virtù, virtue.
Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio. Chi fa del male continuerà a farlo.
A leopard can’t change its spots. Those who do evil will continue to do so.
Pronunciation of Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio in Italian
Now let’s hear how this proverb is pronounced.
Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio.
A leopard can’t change its spots.
Literally: The wolf loses its fur but not its bad habits.
You may have trouble pronouncing the -rd- cluster in perde. If you need help with Italian pronunciation, check out the lesson on the Italian alphabet and pronunciation.
Where does Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio come from?
This proverb refers to the figure of the wolf in myths and folklore: it’s often depicted as a dangerous and mischievous creature that lures innocent people into traps, like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, Cappuccetto rosso in Italian.
Nonnina, che occhi grandi che hai!
What great big eyes you have, Grandma!
The meaning of Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio is similar to the much less common proverb La lontra muta il pelo, ma continua a mangiar pesci, “the otter molts, but keeps eating fish”.
And that’s the end of our lesson on the Italian proverb Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio!
What next?
See all the other Italian idioms!
Now that you’ve seen what the meaning of the proverb Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio is in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672
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Italian All-in-One For Dummies appeals to those readers looking for a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide to mastering the Italian language. It contains content from all For Dummies Italian language instruction titles, including Italian For Dummies, Intermediate Italian For Dummies, Italian Verbs For Dummies, Italian Phrases For Dummies, Italian Grammar For Dummies, and Italian For Dummies Audio Set.
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