"Cos'è un uomo?"

Translation: What is a man?

[squaredomino]

Philosophy section starts here.

[Blomeley]

For the answer here we need Nietzsche... damn, wrong language :(

[Zzzzz...]

Try Primo Levi instead. One of the first things I will read once I have "mastered" Italian, will be Se questo è un uomo.

[John.Burgess]

Great book.

[andrealoke]

There was another question - 'what is a woman?' ... seriously.

[cap.picard]

Duo has a weird way of asking questions

[wildflamer17]

I'm starting to think so.

[percyflage]

One rather glum version of that is in this jazz standard song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB16VQz60RI

Of course when women sing it, the gender is reversed ;)

[Zoe145821]

Right

[RofegoPentalingo]

It is just women's revenge... :-)

[LuisFDConti]

They pulled a page out of Judith Butler for that one

[haparoiden]

Nobody can answer this question. Even women can't understand women ;)

[MAMIPILY]

So true.......Brings up many questions and responses........ such as "I think, therefore I am. If I am not, the what am I?"
XD

[bjojoe]

It depends........

[Kadogen]

Ahahaha

[bonobaer]

I enjoy the comments sections more than anything on duolingo.

[ducttguy13]

I almost feel terribly for those whose grammar questions are swallowed by the humor. Almost.

[wildflamer17]

Yah like right? I live for this anonymous (sort of) sociality.

[awebb253]

"(To be a man!) You must be swift as a coursing river! (To be a man!) With all the force of a great Typhoon! (To be a man!) With all the strength of a raging fire. Mysterious as the dark side of THE MOON!" ......Mulan, anyone??? No? Ok...

[allyszuk]

You stole my comment. You deserve a lingot.

[13woolsi]

You will succeed in life

[MardiMonkey]

I LOVE Mulan!

[wildflamer17]

me 2!!!!

[wildflamer17]

& speaking of which, is it just me or are disney movies a lot better when they're the older ones. (except for big hero 6, & maybe frozen.)

[EranGabay]

I love you

[jeslam1]

what has he got? if not himself, then he has not...

[JimdaAlulong]

from a song right? :)

[kenzoxiv]

I did it my way.....

[MusicMan97]

Frank Sinatra's 'My Way'

[SoBroithe]

"A modo mio" - Francesco Sinatra!

[siciIy]

beat me to it

[TJTitmus]

Hope you do it your way.

[Tangrenin]

What is love?

[RoshanRatn]

Baby dont hurt me

[jdarlson]

Don't hurt me

[rossemilie]

No more!

[bangtansweetpea]

Bum bum, bum bum bu bum bum, bum bum bu bum bum bum bum bu BUM BUM, bum bum bum...

[Todd675171]

Woah woah woah woah ooh woah ooh woah, woah ooh woah ooh woah, woah woah

[Raviex]

[LucasFerre309102]

Came here for this. Thanks!

[GabrielRam333927]

Here, have a lingot good sir.

[MusicMan97]

Grazie! I was desperately trying to find out what this was from.

[DonnaMarie]

No definition for COS

[ddddan]

It's "cosa" minus the a

[christopher]

Spot on. That's why there is the apostrophe.

[TheGandalf]

I had the same issue with " dov' ". There was no hint to tell me what the word meant, so I didn't know what it meant, and I got it wrong. :(

[chatee]

Dove + e = Dov'e

[TheGandalf]

That comment of mine was from months ago, but thanks anyway.

Duolingo ought not to have removed the dates on the comments.

[glumleaf]

Mulan soundtrack plays in the distance

[EmeraldEyes101]

A miserable little pile of secrets!

[LukeThronson]

Came here to post this

[Nick_1_0_1]

I'm unsure when this form (cos'e) is used. For example, could "Che cosa è questo?" (What is this?) also be "cos'è questo?"( What's this?) ? Should the translation for the given question be "What's a man?" rather than "What is"

[tu.8zPhLD72zzoZN]

No, in English the contraction is optional, but in Italian the contraction is mandatory.

[Enphlegminguous]

Well I know one thing: a /real/ man always keeps a knife in his boot!

[wildflamer17]

haha... il coltello e nello stivale. i have 1 too. ;)

[Bill98991]

Except at the airport!!!

[Fliskmahoy]

And he writes in sugar, apparently.

[randomfatechidna]

I got this right after "Cos'e una donna." What a crazy random happenstance!

[PolyglotNinja]

Dr. Horrible reference. Love it!

[Don_Abramo]

When do you use the apostrophe & when don't you use it?

[Briguy84]

Normally the apostrophe is used to contract two vowels like here cosa + è = cos'è or la + acqua = l'acqua; however, just like every other language there are exceptions to the rule. You must learn those exceptions

[piamgo]

Hey Brian, thx 4 your substantial commend. Do u happen to know where to find these exeptions?

[ChaosInHarmony]

To be a man: you must be swift as a coursing river. With all the force of a great typhoon. With all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the mooooooooooooooon! HYAH!

[MardiMonkey]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eGMN-gNfdaY

[merulaw]

I love the sentences here on Duolingo. Truly beautiful.

[fleeny]

Someone who HAS to drive when you're both in the car and someone who can FIX things that he broke in the first place !!

[wildflamer17]

...what a man

[postdora]

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

[etelke78]

homework: (as we are at the questions section) translate this to italian

[EricGNielson]

I am very surprised. In the entire thread, nobody used the word "penis". It is rare to find a community of people on the internet that wouldn't go there. I guess it just shows that people who learn languages also have class. I am proud and honored to be part of this group.

[KatrinaTheLamia]

They are too busy referencing Castlevania and Disney movies.

So penis mentions take second stage when you can mention Dracula.

[BigTimeGangsta23]

Sorry i thought this was Duolingo, not Philosophy 101 c:

[MardiMonkey]

Or a Disney reference party.

[wildflamer17]

You shouldn't take things so seriously... honestly, you just need to Let it Go. ;D

[KatrinaTheLamia]

Or a video game based May May

[lordofrivendell]

Um... people with... nevermind. Mi dispiace.

[scoobert.doo]

generally speaking, a man is as swift as a coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, as well as all the strength of a raging fire, and also mysterious as the dark side of the moon

[bjojoe]

E 'stato profondo!

[xPharadox]

This is some deep stuff

[Senemioo]

another logical question from duolingo, learning italian has not been so funny up to now=))

[dscamelo]

A miserable little pile of secrets.

[LucasFerre309102]

(flings the wine glass aside
A miserable little pile of secrets!

[chthonicGenesis]

A majestic creature, legend has it they have the swiftness of a coursing river and all the force of a great typhoon, in addition to the strength of a raging tiger and the mystery of the dark side of the moon.

[Xeron]

What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets.

[lizij]

shattering wine glass

[MatthewCon9]

But enough talk… Have at you!

[ViktorMiha]

Aaaaaaa. I was thinking the same:Dddddd

[vanessa_giselle]

Women can be a pile of secrets too :P

[PedroBaldessar]

Much more than men!

[FrankHowe4]

lmao casual sexism

[KatrinaTheLamia]

This is what I came to the comments section for

[James456012]

Die monster. You don't belong in this world.

[HierOfFire]

yep

[duvi12345]

perfectly usual question

[madisonasbury12]

non so

[wildflamer17]

me neither.

[CelebrianArwen]

A grown boy.

[Trekker479]

What is a man, but that lofty spirit...that sense of - enterprise!

[nervousghoul]

Every lesbian's top question.

[SenhorCast]

"For what is man, what has he got..."

[Gyllionvan]

A miserable pile of secrets

[MaiaChoat]

Whoa dude you obviously need some counselling

give me 50 likes and I will give out free lingots

[caseylau5er]

Does anyone know the answer to this???????

[Datmosphere]

'What is a man' -> automatically heading to the comment section :D
Not disappointed :D

[Disney420149]

Honey, if you don't know what a man is you've got a problem.

[HelenZable]

A miserable pile of secrets, of course.

[Osnapitzmiriam]

The world may never know.

[Ece987110]

duolingo back at it again with the important questions

[IsabelAgui16]

This question is in the least stupid and weird.

[AnthonyEva336973]

Noo, im to busy finding out what a woman is, not this.

[RebeccaBre199013]

What is with the shortening of all these words

[AndrewLeHud]

Lebowski.

[distractedd]

a man, a mysterious specimen known for messing things up and making girls cry but they figure it out..sometimes

[joonrose]

Thanks duolingo for teaching us the most useful of things...

[Anise1105]

This is where we get down deep....answering life's mysteries on Duo. xD

[EmLo_the_Bowtie]

Doitsu. Doitsu is a man.

[Martha845255]

Comments section is my best corner where i laugh my ribs out.✋every one

[ShotgunJohnny99]

Unzips pants

[EliaGrooms]

Un uomo è come un serpente nello stivale. Things i have learned to say thanks to duolingo.

[elizamyth]

a featherless biped

[pizspozseng]

What is a man: 135 comments. What is a woman: 195 comments.

[blossom_of_snow]

Nature's gift ♥️

[Da_Sajf]

Duo is definitely not from earth

[Bricksheffield]

Dualingo headquarters on the alien spaceship
Master: Do IT!
Alien: but master, their getting suspicious

[Tuxfriend]

...inquiring aliens want to know. ;-)

[heathee48.]

This immediately had me singing Salt-N-Pepa

[RiccardoCa864874]

A miserable pile of secrets! But enough talk, have at you!

[Adwait77651]

What indeed?

[Adwait77651]

The question that has puzzled many for centuries.

[LaoMi4]

Someone said "Duolingo should make a T-shirt - Quale balena. cos' e un uomo - would do as well.

[strawberry.molk]

a big pile of sorrow and sadness

[1951K]

Duolingo..These comments from fellow learners do not help!!! Please check for yourself the "nonsense " listed below.

[Tesneem12]

For what is a maaan, for what has he got?