Learn Italian set phrases

Hi, there! I am Luca and this wonderful video is aimed at those people who study Italian as a foreign language.

More specifically, this video is geared toward those learners who have already reached a good level of Italian and wish to learn new phrases, new idioms, new sayings and so on.

In other words, this video is aimed at those who want to expand their vocabulary and speak Italian better.

On my channel page you can find hundreds of videos like this one. Below I'm gonna add a link to it.

Anyways, in this episode I would like to explain the idiomatic phrase "Passi lunghi e ben distesi!".

Alright! This is a fixed phrase: it should be used as it is, you can't change anything, you can't even change the word order. You can't say: "Passi ben distesi e lunghi". This is a fixed phrase, it should be used as it is.

Let me tell you right away that it's not very common. Anyways, I think that it's a nice phrase. The first time I heard it, I was 20 years old, I guess. I had never heard it before, because this idiom is quite rare. Or rather, it's not that it's rare, but it's not too common.

Secondly, this idiomatic phrase is somewhat peculiar in that, basically, there's no main verb. We have a noun, "passi", followed by two adjectives: "lunghi" and "ben distesi". But there's no main verb.

In fact, the first times I heard this idiom, I myself wasn't sure how to understand it. Why? Because there was no main verb.

Alright! Even though in this set phrase you can't see any verb, there's - so to speak - an implied verb, that is, "allontanati". So this phrase should be understood as follows: "Allontanati a passi lunghi e ben distesi".

Because this idiom is used in reference to people we wish would get away from us as far as possible and as fast as possible.

The noun "passo" has different meanings and can refer, among other things, to the space between our legs while we walk. For example, this is a foot, this is the other foot. The word "passo" refers to the space between the two feet. So, if somebody walks this way, this space right here is referred to as "passo".

I don't know if you know the idiomatic phrase "Fare il passo più lungo della gamba". Well, I've also made a video about this idiom. I'm gonna add a card up here and a link in the video description.

Anyways, let's go back to our idiomatic phrase. What does "Passi lunghi e ben distesi" mean?

Like I said, "il passo" refers to the space between the two feet. This is the front foot and this is the rear foot. If I straighten my leg, my "passo" becomes longer. This is the front leg, my "passo" becomes longer. Meaning that I go further.

So the word "disteso" doesn't refer to the "passo", it refers to the leg. The leg is straightened, that is, stretched, to the maximum extent and, as a consequence, the stride is longer.

So, if we want to paraphrase the fixed phrase "Passi lunghi e ben distesi", we could say something along these lines: Get away quickly from me, straightening your legs to the maximum extent possible. Meaning with a stride as long as possible.

That is, in other words, instead of going away with short, baby steps, which implies going away with no hurry, get away quickly with a long stride and your legs fully extended. That is, straighten your legs to the maximum extent possible, so that your stride is as long as possible. Why? Because this way you will get away quickly.

Well, that is all with respect to the meaning.

But how is this idiom actually used?

For example, let's pretend that somebody asked you something, made to you a request that you find annoying. You can reply to this individual: "No, non ci penso proprio! Passi lunghi e ben distesi!".

What does this phrase mean? In other words, it's like saying to this person: hell no, no way! Look, go away, get away quickly and go as far as possible, because I want nothing to do with you. I don't care about what you're saying, look, just leave!

A slightly more indirect example could be this: let's pretend that I've broken up with my girlfriend, a friend of mine asks me if I'm still in touch with her, I could reply to my friend: "Hello no! God forbid! Passi lunghi e ben distesi!"

What does it mean? No way! I don't want to see or hear this person anymore. In fact, I wish they got away as quickly as possible.

If we want to put it differently, we could say that the fixed phrase "passi lunghi e ben distesi" in this case means: may this person get as far as possible and as fast as possible.

I gave you an example with my girlfriend, right? My ex. In theory, we can also use this phrase when there is somebody who for example did something that we didn't like and, for example, I don't know, we got offended.

If somebody asks me "Are you still in touch with Marco?" - let's pretend that Marco is that person who did something which offended us - we could reply: "No, no. I no longer see him. Passi lunghi e ben distesi!".

Again, in this case too this phrase means: I no longer see him and don't want to. I just want that this individual gets as far away as possible.

Alternatively, it could be worded as follows: I want that this person stays away from me. I want nothing to do with this individual.

Another example could be: "In general, it's better to stop seeing one's exes. Passi lunghi e ben distesi".

Like I said, the peculiarity of this fixed phrase is that the main verb is missing. Many Italians know this phrase. Some Italians may not know it. But I would say that, by and large, even these people should be able to guess what you mean.

Well, that's it! I hope that you liked this video.

That said - bye!

And may the Force of Advanced Italian be with you!