3 ms·

Italy is (was?) quite religious too, what with Vatican City and a very long Christian-Democratic dominance in national politics, but it is also the birthplace o

Italy is (was?) quite religious too, what with Vatican City and a very long Christian-Democratic dominance in national politics, but it is also the birthplace of commedia sexy [1], and erotic comics artists such as Milo Manara and Guido Crepax were quite famous back in their day (they still are). The US seem especially prudish when it comes the depiction of sex in arts and entertainment. [1]: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_sexy_all%27italiana https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_sexy_all%27italiana

thaumasiotes 8y ago
> it is also the birthplace of commedia sexy [1] > [1]: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_sexy_all%27italiana https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_sexy_all%27italiana Sure enough, the Italian genre name is commedia sexy. I'm always interested in phrases like this -- sexy is obviously an English word. It's very common for foreign words to be borrowed when the speaker feels that the concept they express doesn't have a good match in his own language. I'm pretty confident that everything I understand by the word "sexy" can be idiomatically expressed in Italian that is not obviously foreign. Do you happen to know what the Italians mean by using "sexy" as opposed to a more natural-looking word?
- BerislavLopac 8y ago
  I can't speak for Italian, but coming for another very heavily Catholic country I would say that the reason is that most other words having to do with sex are very much perceived as either bad (e.g. blasphemous or just rude), or simply medical, based on the traditional usage. The word "sexy" (as opposed to "sex") has always had an air of playfulness and joy.
- klez 8y ago
  In Italian we use "sexy" in a way that roughly means "erotic" or "sexually exciting".
  - lou1306 8y ago
    I would like to add that Italians tend to borrow English words a lot. (In the 19th century it was the same, but with French; ancient Romans were similarly fascinated by Greek). There may be multiple reasons for that. In IT, English terms (kernel, firmware, bootloader, driver, etc.) are usually preferred because translations might be more ambiguous. In other cases, English just sounds more exotic/sophisticated to the average listener.
umvi 8y ago
Italy is not religious at all. Everyone is "catholic" but nobody actually goes to church or leads christian lives other than meaningless rote rituals. Try to get Italians to start going to church regularly, reading the Bible regularly, etc. and you'll be met with indifference or hostility.
- lou1306 8y ago
  I agree this may be true today, but the example I have cited come from the 60s and the 70s. For contex, divorce became allowed in 1970 (a 1974 referendum unsuccessfully tried to repeal that law); abortion was a crime until 1978 (again, a 1981 referendum failed to repeal the law). Same-sex unions have only been introduced in 2016. So, even though religious sentiment may be weak, the Italian cultural and political landscape is hugely influenced by the views of the Church. As an aside, reading the Bible has never been a strong part of Catholic religiousness anyway, due to the fact that biblical exegesis has been historically (ie. until Vatican II) reserved to the clergy. There are indeed other forms of devotion, like the rosary or the liturgy of the Hours, which are more or less frowned upon by more "secular" people.

thaumasiotes 8y ago

> it is also the birthplace of commedia sexy [1] > [1]: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_sexy_all%27italiana https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_sexy_all%27italiana Sure enough, the Italian genre name is commedia sexy. I'm always interested in phrases like this -- sexy is obviously an English word. It's very common for foreign words to be borrowed when the speaker feels that the concept they express doesn't have a good match in his own language. I'm pretty confident that everything I understand by the word "sexy" can be idiomatically expressed in Italian that is not obviously foreign. Do you happen to know what the Italians mean by using "sexy" as opposed to a more natural-looking word?

BerislavLopac 8y ago
I can't speak for Italian, but coming for another very heavily Catholic country I would say that the reason is that most other words having to do with sex are very much perceived as either bad (e.g. blasphemous or just rude), or simply medical, based on the traditional usage. The word "sexy" (as opposed to "sex") has always had an air of playfulness and joy.
klez 8y ago
In Italian we use "sexy" in a way that roughly means "erotic" or "sexually exciting".
- lou1306 8y ago
  I would like to add that Italians tend to borrow English words a lot. (In the 19th century it was the same, but with French; ancient Romans were similarly fascinated by Greek). There may be multiple reasons for that. In IT, English terms (kernel, firmware, bootloader, driver, etc.) are usually preferred because translations might be more ambiguous. In other cases, English just sounds more exotic/sophisticated to the average listener.

umvi 8y ago

Italy is not religious at all. Everyone is "catholic" but nobody actually goes to church or leads christian lives other than meaningless rote rituals. Try to get Italians to start going to church regularly, reading the Bible regularly, etc. and you'll be met with indifference or hostility.

lou1306 8y ago
I agree this may be true today, but the example I have cited come from the 60s and the 70s. For contex, divorce became allowed in 1970 (a 1974 referendum unsuccessfully tried to repeal that law); abortion was a crime until 1978 (again, a 1981 referendum failed to repeal the law). Same-sex unions have only been introduced in 2016. So, even though religious sentiment may be weak, the Italian cultural and political landscape is hugely influenced by the views of the Church. As an aside, reading the Bible has never been a strong part of Catholic religiousness anyway, due to the fact that biblical exegesis has been historically (ie. until Vatican II) reserved to the clergy. There are indeed other forms of devotion, like the rosary or the liturgy of the Hours, which are more or less frowned upon by more "secular" people.