pinzillacchera

Italian

Etymology

Coined by Italian actor, comedian and screenwriter Antonio "Totò" De Curtis around 1930, perhaps as a jocular alteration of pillacchera.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pin.t͡silˈlak.ke.ra/
• Rhymes: -akkera
• Hyphenation: pin‧zil‧làc‧che‧ra

Noun

pinzillacchera f (plural pinzillacchere)

1. (usually in the plural) trifle, bagatelle

   Synonyms: bagatella, sciocchezza

   • 1939 April, Totò, anonymous interviewer, quotees, “Totò, i tetti, il sosia e gli animali pazzi (Intervista con Totò) [Totò, the roofs, the double, and the crazy animals (Interview with Totò)]”, in L'eco del cinema‎^[1] (cinematography), page 37:

     — Poi presi le botte perché, non potendo scendere da lì, mi dovetti arrendere. Bah! Fanciullezza! Pinzillacchere!
     — Come?
     — Pinzillacchere, quisquilie, sciocchezzuole, dico.

     [Totò]: Than I got beat up because, being unable to get down from there, I had to surrender myself. Bah! Childhood! Trifles!
     [interviewer]: What?
     [Totò]: I mean trifles, niff-naffs, bagatelles.

Further reading

• pinzillacchera in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana