3 ms·
That's because the article attaches to it a special aura of "italianess" as if Italians were obsessed by their looks in a unique way (which might be true or not
by ithkuil 6y ago
That's because the article attaches to it a special aura of "italianess" as if Italians were obsessed by their looks in a unique way (which might be true or not, but I don't see how this translates to the untranslatability of the word itself, rather than just being the side effect of capitalizing a trope)
- jaclaz 6y agoAlso, bella (o brutta) figura is in Italian much more related to behaviour/politeness/education/culture, than to appearance. Though you can say that something (or even someone) "fa figura", if it looks better than what it is really made of.