Wanted to started a thread for the nicknames of the Italian teams, and what they mean in English. I'll start with the obvious and well-known ones, most of which are based on colors: Juventus - bianconeri (black and whites), La Vecchia Signora (the Old Lady) Milan - rossoneri (red and blacks) Inter - nerazzurri (black and blues) Lazio - biancocelesti (white and sky blues) Roma - giallorossi (yellow and reds) Sampdoria - blucerchiati (blue shirts??? I'm not sure on this one - "cerchiati" may also refer to the "hoops" around their shirts. not sure there's a precise translation) Perugia - grifoni (griffins??? "grifo" = "snout". ???) Reggina - amaranto (maroon) Parma - gialloblu (yellow and blue) Feel free to add others you know of or clarify some of the translations. I know Brescia has an unusual one that I think translated to the "swallows" or something, but I can't remember or find it at the moment.
Modena Football Club 1912: we are "the canaries", due to our first color, yellow (the other one is blue). Other nick is "the yellows", obviously for the same reason. Yellow and blue are also Modena city colors ...
What is the Italian word for "canaries"? And do they call them "il giallo" or "i gialli" or "gialloblu"? I'm mostly interested in learning the Italian versions of the nicknames and then what they mean. Do you know what some of the others mean?
"Canaries" in italian is "Canarini", while "The Yellows" is "I Gialli". I Canarini and I Gialli are, in this order, our main nicknames, that you could read on newspapers or hear in our songs. About the others, good and bad ones ... Brescia: Swallows is Rondinelle, but their are named - not friendly to be honest - as Suni', that means pigs. Juventus: Rubentus, from the italian rubare, to steal ... it's a long story! Milan: I Diavoli (The Devils) Inter: I Biscioni (The Snakes) Lazio: Le Aquile (The Eagles) Roma: I Lupacchiotti (rarely used, but specially about their supporters ... Little Wolves, I think) Sampdoria: you are right. Perugia: I Grifoni or Il Grifo (Griffins or Griffin) Reggina: you already said Parma: I Ducali (The Ducals ... Parma in the past was capital of a dukedom) or i gialloblu (yellow and blue) Ancona: I Dorici (The Dorics) or Biancorossi (white and red) Chievo: I Clivensi (due to the ancient name of their area) Bologna: I Felsinei (due to the ancient name of the city, Felsina) Actually nothing comes in my mind about Empoli, Lecce, Siena and Udinese ... I'll post there any news about.
Great! Thanks! That's what I was looking for. I think Udinese = bianconeri (imagine that ...). Does anybody in Italy call Chievo the "flying donkeys" ?(I've seen several references to that name in English-language articles. It's not an old nickname of course). If so, what is it in Italian? I also know many teams get referred in game reports and such by their regions, as long as they are playing a team from a different region.
I read that Chievo are called the 'Flying Donkeys', because their big rivals, Verona used to say that you're more likely to see flying donkeys than Chievo in Serie A. It's my favourite club nickname by miles . Can't help in the translation though.
Yeah that's true, the flying monkeys -> gli asini volanti. It's a common say in Italy. When it's difficult one thing to happen, people say it's more likely that the donkeys begin to fly. However sometimes happens ...
Venezia are the arancioneroverdi. The "orangeblackgreens." I think they used to be just the neroverdi, but they merged with the Mestre team from the mainland in, I think, 1987 and added their color -orange. Venezia are often referred to as the "lagunari," which is probably something like the "lagoon guys." This is since their stadium sits adjacent to the Lagoon and is accessible principally by boat, tho' one can get to Venice by train or bus and then walk across the city to the stadium in about an hour (natives who know all the shortcuts can probably make it in half the time.) Mcginniss in his Castel di Sangro book has a funny chapter on the game in Venice that talks about the lagoon and getting to the stadium....
regarding samp... <MoRLoCh> that's why they are called "blucerchiati" [16:38] <MoRLoCh> that means blu with circles [16:38] <MoRLoCh> because the other 3 colors make circles friend of mine from Arten, IT, ironically speaking about it just as I read this thread...
Marina laughed a lot after I asked her about agli asini volanti she's from Genova and never heard about them before!
Welcome to the board, ankf00. Thanks for the confirmation about blucerchiati. I had always assumed it mean blue-shirts, but now I know an exact translation is blue/hoops or blue/circles. "blucerchiati" definitely sounds better! Mario, I think Chievo has only been called the "flying donkeys" for a couple of years since they made it to Serie A because Verona fans always said that "donkeys would fly" before Chievo ever made it to the top division. The Chievo fans definitely have the last laugh on this one.
Thanks, ya my mate there, Emiliano, he's good for alot of weird and random, but very neat, Italian trivia/information.
There is some confusion: most of the nicknames above are not nicknames but just names based on the shirt colour, as you said. All the team players can be called with name from the team name (Milanisti, Atalantini, Sampdoriani, Interisti) or from the team colours (in this case Rossoneri, Nerazzurri, Blucerchiati, Nerazzurri again) The nicknames are a different thing. BluCerchiati means "BlueCircled", or better "wrapped of blue circles" But Sampdoria players nickname is "DORIANI" (dunno what it means) It' s important not to mistake it with the similar Ancona nickname "DORICI" (ancient greek people who founded Ancona) Juventus nickname is "LA VECCHIA SIGNORA" (the old lady), not "Rubentus" (kinda "Stealentus" or "Thiefentus") even if "she" really deserves it AC Milan nickname is "DIAVOLO" (Devil), and the players are "DIAVOLI" (devils), i dunno why. Inter is "BENEAMATA" (well-loved), i dunno why. SS Lazio players nickname is "AQUILE" (Eagles), because of the team symbol. AS Roma is "LA LUPA", (female wolf) beacuse of the legend that Rome was founded by two guys growed by a female wolf. Perugia is "GRIFO" and players are "GRIFONI" (Griffin, Gryphon), and it' s the same for Genoa (Grifo and Grifoni), or maybe only one of the team is Grifo but surely both team players are named "GRIFONI" Brescia players nickname is "RONDINELLE", (Swallows), becuase their girlfriends swallow Seriously, swallows means "rondini" , rondinelle is a kind of "beauty little Swallows" Note the "V" on the shirt represents the shape of a swallow when you see it flying. Swallow shape Parma players are "DUCALI", "Dukals", beacuse Parma was a very powerful dukedom in the past. Chievo players nickname is "CLIVENSI". There is a kind of story about flying donkeys (Asini in italian, Mussi in Verona dialect) i don' t remember well. Bologna players nickname is "FELSINEI" beacuse of the ancient name of the town. Atalanta players nickname is "OROBICI", dunno what it means. Cagliari players nickname is "ISOLANI" (Islanders), beacuse Cagliari is in Sardinia. Fiorentina player main nicknames and team nickname is "VIOLA" (Violet). This one is from the colour But they are also "GIGLIATI" and "GIGLIO", (Lily) from the name of the flower symbol of Florence. Venezia players are "LAGUNARI" beacause of the Lagoon Venice is build in. Torino is "TORO" (bull) Triestina players nickname is "ALABARDATI"... i don' t even know what it means in Italian Ascoli player nickname is "PICENI", i think beacuse they suck a lot! In truth it' s because of the ancient people who founded Ascoli, that is named offcially "Ascoli Piceno" infact. Anyway, they always suck bad. Modena players are "CANARINI", (canaries) because they are yellow like Tweety. Canarini are also Fermana players, a Serie C team from Fermo, near Ascoli, south of Ancona.