In this lesson, youâll learn the most common and interesting dog idioms in Italian.
If youâre a cat person, you may also want to check out the most common cat idioms in Italian.
Letâs get started!
Dog idioms in Italian: more than one dog
Fare una vita da cani
A dogâs life is a terrible life in English, and the same can be said in Italian.
Fare una vita da cani
To lead a dogâs life
Literally: to make dogsâ life
Che vita da cani!
What a miserable life!
Questa pandemia ci costringe a fare una vita da cani.
This pandemic is forcing us to live a miserable life.
Raddrizzare le gambe ai cani
This is the Italian equivalent of to teach an old dog new tricks. You canât really teach an old dog new tricks, so this Italian idiom is used to address a problem that canât be solved no matter how many times you try.
Raddrizzare le gambe ai cani
To teach an old dog new tricks
Literally: to straighten dogsâ legs
Farsi obbedire da un gatto Ăš come raddrizzare le gambe ai cani.
Making a cat obey you is like teaching an old dog new tricks.
Dog idioms in Italian: one dog
Essere come cane e gatto
If youâve followed the previous lesson on cat idioms, youâll remember this one.
It translates to to be like cats and dogs. It means to be archenemies.
Essere come cane e gatto
To be like cats and dogs
Literally: to be like cat and dog
I miei due figli sono come cane e gatto. Litigano sempre!
My sons are like cats and dogs. They are always fighting!
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Language: English / Italian
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Pages:Â 672
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Can che abbaia non morde
Abbaiare means to bark. Mordere means to bite.
Can che abbaia non morde
Its bark is worse than its bite
Literally: barking dog doesnât bite
Trattare qualcuno come un cane
This idiom can be literally translated as to treat someone like a dog.
Trattare qualcuno come un cane
To treat someone like a dog
Mi sento trattato come un cane.
I feel like Iâm being treated like a dog.
Non svegliare il cane che dorme
Which means, donât go looking for trouble.
Trivia: Hogwartsâ motto is Draco dormiens numquam titillandus, ânever tickle a sleeping dragonâ.
Non svegliare il can che dorme
Let sleeping dogs lie
Literally: donât wake up the sleeping dog
Cane non mangia cane
This is an interesting idiom. It comes from the Latin canis canem non est, which literally means dog doesnât eat dog. A thief will not harm another thief.
When the English language adopted it, this Latin idiom completely lost its original meaning. In the English language, it expresses a completely different concept: dog-eat-dog world.
Cane non mangia cane
There is honor among thieves
Literally: dog doesnât eat dog
Menare il can per lâaia
Menare means to beat. Aia means barnyard.
In the past, people used to thresh grain in barnyards by letting heavy farm animals walk on it. Lighter animals such as dogs and chickens would have taken much more time to thresh the same amount of grain, hence the idiom.
Menare il can per lâaia
To beat around the bush
Literally: beat the dog around the barnyard
You may have noticed, in some of these idioms, that cane is written as can. This is a contracted, literary form of this noun and itâs found in these dog idioms in Italian. Although they are less common, that means you can also say Menare il cane per lâaia or Non svegliare il cane che dorme!
What next?
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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