Learn Italian idioms

Hi, everybody! I am Luca and this video-lesson is aimed at those amazing people who are learning Italian as a second language.

If you are learning Italian, you've come to the right place!

As a matter of fact, in this video I wanted to talk about a very nice and funny idiom: "LA RAVA E LA FAVA".

This phrase is typically used together with the verb "raccontare", so: "raccontare la rava e la fava".

What does the phrase "raccontare la rava e la fava" mean?

It means telling something with excessive detail. For example, someone asked us to tell them something, we tell them that, but we give them too much detail. That is, we tell them this thing in too much detail.

Perhaps this individual wanted a short answer, yet what do we do? "Le raccontiamo la rava e la fava". That is, we digress and talk about things this person may not be interested in.

This is often done by the elderly, right?

You surely know that if you ask something to an elderly person... You may expect a short answer, because you'd like to get a specific piece of information.

However, what does this person do?

They start telling the entire story, explaining all details.

Well, to comment this fact, you could say that this person "vi ha raccontato la rava e la fava". Or: "Si è messa a raccontarmi la rava e la fava".

What does it mean?

It means that, instead of giving me a concise outline, instead of giving me a summary, instead of answering concisely, they provided way too much detail. They also told me things that were not interesting to me.

So you understand that the idiom "raccontare la rava e la fava" means telling something in much detail. However in this case the adjective "dettagliato" has a negative meaning.

Well, I mentioned the elderly, because older people have such tendency. In theory, younger people too can "raccontare la rava e la fava".

There are indeed people who may have difficulty getting to the point. If you ask something to them, "vi raccontano la rava e la fava". They may start from the very beginning, from the prologue of the entire story, and tell you things that are not interesting to you. They tell you details you have no interest in.

So, if I ask a friend of mine to tell me something, and he digresses rambling about unnecessary details, I can say that he "mi ha raccontato la rava e la fava".

I don't know if you know the expression "per filo e per segno". Usually "raccontare qualcosa per filo e per segno". Or: "Spiegare qualcosa per filo e per segno".

Well, let's say that "raccontare la rava e la fava" and "raccontare qualcosa per filo e per segno" are two similar idioms, but there's a key difference.

Some time ago I made a video about the idiomatic expression "per filo e per segno". In the top corner I'll add a card to it. If you want, check it out!