Some famous Italian proverbs about New Year and winter. Audio.

Chi non gioca a Natale, chi non balla a Carnevale, chi non beve a san Martino è un amico malandrino.

Who doesn’t play at Christmas, who doesn’t dance at Carnival, who doesn’t drink on St. Martin’s day is a shady friend.

Tempo chiaro e dolce a capodanno, assicura bel tempo tutto l’anno.

Clear and mild weather on New Year’s Day assures good weather throughout the year.

Cotta o pesta, la neve dà acqua.

Whether melted or crushed, snow turns into water.

Donna, vino, legna e pane, lascia che nevichi fino a domane.

Woman (man…), wine, firewood, and bread, let it snow until tomorrow.

Al primo caldo non ti spogliare, al primo freddo non ti vestire

Do not undress at the first warmth, do not dress at the first cold.

Anno nuovo, vita nuova.

No need to explain this one.

Quel che si fa il primo dell’anno, si fa per tutto l’anno.

What you do on the first day of the year, you do throughout the whole year.

L’Epifania, tutte le feste le porta via.

Epiphany, celebrated on January 6th, marks the end of the Christmas holiday season and the removal of Christmas decorations. It’s often used to emphasize the return to normalcy.

Ogni gatto ha il suo gennaio.

Every cat has “its January”. Cats fall in love in January and sometimes they behave erratically. So do people in January.

Tre cose sono di breve durata: giuramenti delle donne, amicizia dei potenti e sole d’inverno.

“There a three short things: promises of women, friendship of powerful people and the winter sunlight”. This is an old proverb. We should add “giuramenti degli uomini” to the list.

Thanks for reading and listening. Remember to buy some red underwear on New Year’s Eve. A presto!

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Italian Painting of Today: Giuseppe De Nittis – La lezione di pattinaggio (1875)