Bread idioms in Italian

In this lesson, you’ll learn the most common and interesting bread idioms in Italian.

Let’s start!

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Bread idioms in Italian

There are many bread idioms in Italian. Let’s take a look at the most common of them.

Buono come il pane

The first idiom we’re going to see translates to good-natured.

Literally, it means “as good as bread”. Bread, especially when you’re hungry, tastes very good. This is where this idiom comes from.

Luigi è buono come il pane.
Luigi is good-natured.

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Mettere a pane e acqua

This translates to to give a harsh punishment and literally means “to give someone bread and water”.

Bread and water could be a decent meal if you’re starving, but if you’re used to eating pizza, fruit, meat and dairy products, a bread-and-water diet it can be quite a change for the worse.

This is why mettere a pane e acqua is used to mean a harsh punishment.

Il carceriere ha messo il prigioniero a pane e acqua.
The jailer gave the prisoner a harsh punishment.

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Trovare pane per i propri denti

If you “find bread for your teeth”, it means you came across a challenge and are having difficulties overcoming it. You basically have a very hard piece of bread to chew on.

Carlo non si fa mettere i piedi in testa da nessuno. Marco ha trovato pane per i suoi denti.
Carlo doesn’t let anyone walk over him. Marco came across a challenge.

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Rendere pan per focaccia

This idiom translates to to get even and it literally means “to give flatbread in exchange for bread”.

Prima o poi troverò il modo di rendergli pan per focaccia.
Sooner or later I will find a way to give them a taste of their own medicine.

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Dire pane al pane e vino al vino

If you see a loaf of bread, call it a loaf of bread. If you see a casket of wine, call it a casket of wine. Speak clearly, and don’t hide your true intentions.

This is what dire pane al pane e vino al vino means, literally translating to “to say bread to bread and wine to wine”.

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Togliersi il pane di bocca (per qualcuno)

Picture this: you’re hungry, even very hungry, and you’re about to eat a big, fatty sandwich. You suddenly stumble upon a child who’s even more hungry than you.

You decide to sacrifice yourself, and your food, and give him the sandwich. You’ve literally “took the bread out of your mouth” for them.

Qualsiasi genitore si toglierebbe il pane di bocca per il benessere del proprio figlio.
Any parent would sacrifice themselves for the welfare of their child.

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Se non è zuppa è pan bagnato

This idiom literally means “if it’s not soup, it’s wet bread” and it can be used to translate the English expression it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other.

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Per un pezzo di pane

There’s an Italian saying that goes, lavorare per vivere o vivere per lavorare?. Work to live or live to work? Either way, we can’t really refrain from eating, so we might even take on some absolutely draining job positions in order to have something to eat. Our time “for a piece of bread”.

Mio papà lavora dieci ore al giorno in fabbrica per un pezzo di pane.
My dad works ten hours a day in the factory for a piece of bread.

And that’s it with the most common bread idioms in Italian!

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