"Cosa vuoi dire?"

Translation: What do you mean?

[webMan1]

Can this also mean "what do you want to say", or would you require a "a" or "di", etc. before "dire"?

[diego_d]

"What do you want to say?" was accepted for me.

[deactivated user]

Me too.

[silkwarrior]

Am pretty sure I've heard this, or maybe more polite variant "cosa vuole dire" used in a few intense Italian arguments.

[StanKing1]

Yes, it's an Italian idiom.

[BrianPhilipBlack]

I used 'What do you want to say', and it is accepted

[AlistairThomson]

Exceptional! There are two translations given : "What do you mean?" and "What do you want to say", but "What do you mean to say" loses a heart....

[malcolmissimo]

Voler dire only translates to 'mean' as an alternative to 'want to say'. Its subject can be a person or a word / phrase / text.

Your last example needs intendere or synonym. Other cases need significare or synonym. The context decides.

[HeatherCha905829]

How would you say "what do you want to say" in Italian?

[EduardoBud5]

Cosa vuoi dire?

[semuc]

"what do you mean? and what do you want to say?" are not the same thing=cosa vuoi dire?

[hudnut217]

I'm thinking the same thing. To me, "What do you mean" implies that you've already said something but it requires further clarification. "What do you want to say" implies that you have not yet said something but you would like to.

[Ariaflame]

I suspect it is along the lines of, especially in arguments, "What do you really mean, what do you really want to say?" Where someone has said something possibly ambiguous, possibly offensive, and someone is asking for clarity. Or raising the level of the argument.

[sz-cz]

When do we use "Che cosa" and when only "Cosa"?

[c.s.k]

I found several places that said it is regional. Here is one https://dante-learning.com/eng/che-cosa-or-che-cosa-the-italian-way-to-say-what-podcast/

[c.s.k]

Here is a somewhat related post
https://www.duolingo.com/comment/3320936/Qual-vs-Cosa

[RobertJLia]

Why "mean" and not "want"? Someone could have misspoken.

[EhabSalah8]

The literal translation would be "What do you want to say?" but "cosa voui dire" is an idiomatic that means "What do you mean?".
It is said when someone has said something and you didn't understand him or, you did but you want to be sure that you understood him correctly.

[meandmyshadow0]

Significare: surely is "mean" dire means: to say. Does it not.

[Stefan_Hey]

"What do you want to say?" - accepted

[rbaldassari]

an answer of "what do you want to say" was not an option. There was no "want" or "to say" as options.

[Stefan_Hey]

I just typed it in. You do not have to use the word bank, you can type your own answer. In my opinion you are lerning more by doing so.

https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/376885?comment_id=387892

[rbaldassari]

Didn’t know you can do that. Grazie

[Stefan_Hey]

I do it on the DL website. I don’t know if you can do this when you are using the app on your phone.

[DanielPodo0000]

This translation is wrong. "Cosa vuoi dire? " simply means "what do you want to say?". Contextually, however, it can be used in a statement that essentially asks "what do you mean?", just like in English, we would say "What the hell are you talking about?". Hope that helps!

[Stefan_Hey]

Both are fine
"What do you want to say?" - accepted

[MintySciurus]

The translation is correct, it's a variation on the meaning of volere that occurs when it is combined with dire.
https://www.thoughtco.com/conjugate-the-verb-volere-in-italian-4052436#:~:text=to%20get%20here.-,Volere%20Dire,%22to%20mean%20to%20say.%22

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/voler_dire#Italian