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Italian expression of the day: 'Con calma'

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Italian expression of the day: 'Con calma'
File photo: Depositphotos"

Let's all just calm down a bit, shall we?

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Living in a new country can involve all sorts of stress, whether its language issues or dealing with complicated paperwork. 

But before you bubble over like an overheated moka pot, today's phrase will help you remind yourself - and everyone around you - to take it easy.

Con calma translates literally as "with calm".

It's an adverb that means calmly, quietly, steadily, gently, carefully, and a whole load of other words that don't describe how Italians normally do things.

- Sediamoci tutti e parliamone con calma.

- Let's all sit down and talk about it calmly

- Diciamo solo che ho intenzione di prendermela con molta calma.

- Let's just say I plan to take things really slowly.

Fare con calma means to take it easy.

- Dovresti fare con calma

- You need to take it easy

Like piano piano, it comes with a hand gesture - both palms held up and outward, pushing away from you a few times.

And con calma can also be used as a gentle way of telling someone to calm down:

- Con calma, chi state parlando?

- Calm down, who are you talking about?

Calmati is another slightly less gentle way of telling someone to cool it.

- Calmati e ascoltami

- Calm down and listen to me

But be warned: however you say it, telling someone to "calm down" in the middle of an argument works about as well in Italian as it does in English.

 

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