You: Why haven’t you blogged yet today? Me: Because I decided that after my amazing Sunday lunch there was nothing to do but indulge in that time-honored tradition of taking a little nap. You: Oh. Me: But that gives me an idea.
“Schiacciare un pisolino.”
To take a little nap.“Skyah-cha-ray oon pee-zoh-lee-no.” More or less. In fact, more less than more, as this phonetically leads you to a pronunciation with a decidedly American accent, but anyone would understand what you were trying to say.
It’s a funny expression because “schiacciare” means to squash or mash. “Pisolino” is the diminutive of “pisolo” which already means a brief sleep. So if your squeezing out a little little nap, you must really be taking the cattiest of naps. Under the radar. Little more than a wink. Nothing anyone else who isn’t also napping would really take notice of. Etc.
Anyway, ho schiacciato un pisolino and then I woke myself up with the aforementioned caffè scecherato (several posts ago) and that concludes this first episode of “They say.”
An afterthought: On the subject of sleep, I leave you with this from the beautiful book to sleep perchance to dream by brilliant Sicilian photographer Ferdinando Scianna.
The Daily Cure 
What a beautiful language Italian is! I absolutely love the music in it. And the humor. No other language seems so full of little winks and innuendo and funny extensions. You took the tiniest of naps and in the process delighted me in telling me about it.
(irony: Phaidon, the publisher of said book, well-known for its many beautiful editions, is the very company that bought out Cahiers du Cinéma…)
love,
-A
That is a coincidence…hmmmm. I’ve updated the post since you’ve read it, and included instead of the cover of the book, an image from the inside. They really are the most beautiful pictures…all of people (dogs, cats and statues) sleeping. It’s out of print, but can sometimes be found at rummage sales and second hand book stores. Powell’s might have it. Italian IS a beautiful language, and you are absolutely right, a very witty one. There’s a kindness to it. A sense that life shouldn’t really be taken too seriously after all. I’m glad you raise this point…I hadn’t really articulated it to myself, but now it is food for thought and maybe future posts.
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