# Is there a native Italian speaker among us?



## Herkku (Apr 18, 2010)

Is there a native Italian speaker among us? I would like to know how to translate _*"carezza russa"*_. I know the words, of course, but the expression! I browsed through the Languages thread, but couldn't find anyone, who would have reported Italian as his/her mother tongue. I already consulted a learned friend of mine (a professor of the Romance languages), but it was a new one to her, too. Google doesn't really help here: if you write it in the plural form, you get links to the same libretto I am trying to translate; the singular doesn't give even that much.

It appears in the libretto of Donizetti's rarely performed opera, Rita. Deducing from the plot and the context

_Quando, indocile alle busse,
mi si vuol disobbedir,
io, con due *carezze russe*,
l'ordin so ristabilir._

it could be a slap on the face, a punch in the nose, or worse...

Is there anyone who could help me with this?


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

I have asked a native Italian friend of mine about this and he has no idea what this might be. It's possibly early 19th-century Italian slang, so lost on us. He suggests it might be a 'grope'!


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## Herkku (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanks for trying, anyway!


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## A.Zan (Dec 4, 2010)

i think that the "carezza russa" is a punch or an heavy slap

_io, con due carezze russe, l'ordin so ristabilir._

means
_with two punches i can re-establish the order_


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

Throwing that whole phrase into the Google translator, it came up with the following:

When the wayward blows,
I want to disobey,
I, with two strokes Russian
I re-establish order.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Herkku said:


> _io, con due *carezze russe*,_
> _l'ordin so ristabilir._


It means a delicious night with two beautiful Russian women.

:devil:


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## Saul_Dzorelashvili (Jan 26, 2010)

Herkku said:


> Is there a native Italian speaker among us? I would like to know how to translate _*"carezza russa"*_. I know the words, of course, but the expression! I browsed through the Languages thread, but couldn't find anyone, who would have reported Italian as his/her mother tongue. I already consulted a learned friend of mine (a professor of the Romance languages), but it was a new one to her, too. Google doesn't really help here: if you write it in the plural form, you get links to the same libretto I am trying to translate; the singular doesn't give even that much.
> 
> It appears in the libretto of Donizetti's rarely performed opera, Rita. Deducing from the plot and the context
> 
> ...


Maybe its Italian for 'Crazy Russian'...:lol:


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

i'm italian, and it's difficult to understand even for myself! 
But i think that A.Zan is right.
"Carezze russe" is definitely not current language, i suspect that "russe" stands for "rough", or something similar. Because "Chè a me piace di picchiar" means "i like to beat"

In current language "russe" stands for "russian", but "russian caresses" does not mean anything


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