My Favorite New Italian Word: Stunad
I paid Rosa (from Frank Luncheonette) today for my coffee with a $5 and started to walk away from the counter without my change. She said to me “We’re both stunad’s today huh, you forgot your change” Turns out Rosa and I were both having a ditzy day. Then another patron joined in the discussion of the difference between a stunad and a stupido. Stunad is just ditzy, air headed, flakey - whereas a stupido seems to be more of a dumb ass. And well, stunad (or spaz) is not an entirely poor description of me at times, especially when I haven’t had my coffee.
In exchange for the new phrase, I shared with Rosa and the other guy the Dutch gesture for “crazy.” Instead of twirling your finger by your ear to indicate “screwy in the head” as we do in America - the Dutch curve their index finger like a hook, and then move it in a arch in front of their forehead. This takes on all various sorts of styles and flourishes as befitting the finger waver, but it all communicates the same. According to wikipedia tapping your forehead is also commonly accepted in holland.
Definitions from Urban dictionary:
1. stunad: Italian slang for a stupid person
“Whaddaya mean ya quit ya job, ya stunad?”
2. stunad Italain-American for ‘light headed person’.
“You stunad, you forgot the tickets?!?!”
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:58 pm
Yes, I’ve been called this by my mom before.
Here’s a couple more (written as they’re pronounced…these are all dialect so I don’t even know how to spell them correctly): ju-jrool, shan-ghad, a-fanabla. Ever hear them before?
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:26 pm
But Dan, what do they all mean? Ditzy?
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:40 pm
That’s for you to figure out!
Oh okay. Here are the definitions:
ju-jrool - an idiot. A bit harsher than stunad. My grandfather used to say this a lot.
shan-ghad - when something looks really used, almost beyond repair. You could say a pair of beat up shoes were “shan-ghad.” It means you should probably throw them out.
a-fanabla - this is dialect (if I remember correctly) for “Va a Napoli,” or “Go to Naples.” It’s kind like an Italian oy vey.
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:18 pm
My parents said those same words. They happen to be the few words that I know in Italian and even though I may not know their exact definitions, I know the proper context in which they should be used.
ju-jrool is, from what my dad told me, really cetriolo, which literally means cucumber but it got that definition of an “idiot” because of the softness of the vegetable under its skin, in the same way an idiot is not too bright, not too sturdy (i hope that makes sense)
a fanabla is also va fa napoli (or close to it) or also the short “fa nap” which literally means go to naples but in slang terms it means go to hell because naples isn’t the most desirable place to be
also we say “strunad” instead of stunad…but if you call someone a menza strunad it means something way worse than just strunad (so much worse i was never told exactly what it means)
that’s your italian lesson for today
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:47 am
Rosemary Clooney sings “‘ey jadrool, ya don’ no wanna go to school”
in Mambo Italiano
(ya know, in case you want to hear someone sing it out loud)
“strunz” was the local southern dialect I heard from my grandparents
meaning ‘dope’, as in a mild form of idiot, not the hip hop afirmation
February 6th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
strunz is southern dialect for the proper stronzo which is the word for a large turd
January 28th, 2008 at 10:27 am
madahn, you people have it all screwed up!
Va’fannicul means go f**k yourself.
Va faNapoli means go to Naples 9a really crappy place, even in my grandmom;s day)
Stunard means stupid
Shangahd means something is all messed up or all hanging out (disheveled)
Gidrool is the Italian equivalent of the Yiddish shlemiel (a really brainless twit)