38 Comments
I like how 'the banana is mean' is valid but 'the banana is rotten' is not...
"rotten" translates as marcia. Yeah, cattivo can be used for bad tasting food, but I'm Italian and when I read "La banana è cattiva" I thought of an evil sentient banana. Personally I'd prefer La banana ha un cattivo sapore = the banana tastes bad
I tried rotten and I got the big red X. :-( The banana, evidently, is fresh but mean.
One of the suggested answers was "the banana is mean". where does it come from?
it's interesting that the translations for 'good' (bene, buon, bravo e bello) are very specific while bad is very general.
Many years ago I mistakenly used to interpret "cattivo" as simply "naughty". Now I can't get the idea of a naughty banana out of my head!
Does cattiva really mean bad/rotten fruit? The alternative meanings (mean, malevolent) don't seem to apply to produce.
The banana is rotten is more likely than it being mean. However, I don't have a very intimate knowledge of bananas.
1824
No, it is used for bad tasting too. "Marcia" is only a way to be "cattiva".. for instance it might be unripe (acerba)
- 1824
"Cattivo" comes from latin "capitivus" (prisoner), in turn deriving from "capere" (to catch). It used to mean "prisoner", like "captive" in english. It has not this meaning anymore, though some words like "cattività" (captivity) still carry this meaning.
So why a "prisoner" is bad? Most probably it comes from latin expression "captivus diaboli" (prisoner of the devil).
- 271
There is (so my dictionary tells me) an archaic English word "caitiff" which means a cowardly or base person. It comes from the same root as "cattiva" and can also be used as an adjective. This may or may not help David and others remember it!
Here lies the body of our dear Anna, done to death by a banana. It wasn't the fruit that made her go but the skin of the thing that laid her low.
- 302
I got, the banana is evil -- um, evil?? How about spoiled, which was not accepted as an answer :(
The correct answer is THE BANANA IS MEAN!?!?!? Again we see the limitations of letting computers write these questions....
- 1050
spoiled viziato
rotten marcio
inedible immangiabile
ruined rovinato
