Rome Travel Guide

Rome Architecture, History, Art, Museums, Galleries, Fashion, Music, Photos, Walking and Hiking Itineraries, Neighborhoods, News and Social Commentary, Politics, Things to Do in Rome and Environs. Over 900 posts

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Jeanseria?




You can't be in Rome long without knowing that the suffix "ia" refers to a shop or business that does what the prefix says.  Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, but not much.  Hence the Caffeteria Porta Furba refers to a place where you can get coffee near Porta Furba, out Tuscolano way. (And, unlike English, which puts the accent in the related word, cafeteria, on the second e, the accent in caffeteria in ALL these words (including trattoria, please) is on the 'i', but it's pronounced 'ee'.)

The same place is a Cornetteria (referring to the most common Rome pastry, a cornetto) and a Gastronomia (you can get food there; the prefix "gastro," seldom used in English except for doctor's appointments, refers to the digestive tract and now the trendy name "gastropub").

Everyone knows that an Osteria is a low-end restaurant, but may not know that the word actually defines an inn, where there's a host (an old-fashioned "ostia").


A trattoria is usually a step above an osteria.  In this case, the establishment is also a pizzeria and a birreria (beer, "birra" in Italian, is available).


Food shoppers will likely be familiar with the local "salumeria" (which sells salumi (salami, which may or may not be a related word, and which also describes a delicatessen or a pork-butcher shop, as the logo suggests).  A "norcineria" is more specifically a place where butchered pork is sold - pork in the classic style of Norcia, the Umbrian town whose name is given to this method of traditional pork products.



A "sartoria" is a tailor's shop (and the sign "sartorie" suggests there's more than one person doing the sewing).


The local tabaccheria sells tobacco products and matches and may recharge your phone.



But here's the thing.  It's OK to make up new words with the "ia" suffix, even if the prefix is in English.  Here's an example, from the town of Rocca di Papa in the Alban Hills. At the Jeanseria, you can buy....JEANS!


Bill

No comments: