Thursday, January 21, 2010

attimino?!


“Attimo” (instant) means a “brief fraction of time” and comes from Greek “atomos”, indivisible quantity. Thus, the diminutive “attimino” is meaningless, as “attimo” already indicates the most brief and indivisible fraction of time. It is even more incorrect the (very frequent) use of “attimino” as synonym of “un po’” (a little):

Es. E’ un attimino antipatico; Sono un attimino stanco ( He is a little unfriendly, I am a little tired)

From De Giuli, Guastalla, Naddeo, Magari! Corso di lingua e cultura italiana di livello intermedio e avanzato (Firenze: Alma Edizioni)

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