Andare in oca in Italian
| Literal translation | To go in goose (it has a horrible sound, I know) |
| Meaning | To make a mistake or wander off out of distraction |
| IPA pronunciation | /anˈdaːre in ˈɔːka/ |
Andare in oca
To make a blunder, to wander off
Where does this come from? In Italian culture, geese are thought to be stupid. Geese are always quacking, they are clumsy and distracted animals. Calling someone a goose in Italian is therefore very offensive.
There’s also an insulting idiom, oca giuliva (“merry goose”), which describes a superficial, stupid, and loud type of woman. That’s not a nice thing to say! This is why “to go in goose” is used to describe a situation where one is distracted and confused.
For example, you can say…
Sono andato in oca e ho buttato la pasta anziché metterla in frigo.
I wandered off and threw out the pasta instead of putting it in the fridge.
Gaia va spesso in oca durante i compiti in classe.
Gaia is often distracted during school tests.
➡️ Related lessons
- Andare (to go)
- Oca (goose)
- In (preposition)
- Prepositions
- Irregular verbs
- All Italian expressions
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!
❤️ If you liked this lesson on the expression andare in oca, share it with your friends!