QUOI DE NEUF

A video on the Internet posted by the Italian comedian known as Checco Zalone (his real name is Luca Pasquale Medici) made me laugh a lot. In this video, he responded to a series of questions simply by saying “meeh”, a typical utterance of people from Apulia in southern Italy. But let’s look at the more widespread “Boh”, “Beh” and “Bah” habitually used by Italians. They are rather amusing for foreigners, such as a Japanese student of mine. These sounds are very common in informal spoken Italian, especially when speaking to friends and relatives. However, they are rarely used in formal contexts, and you certainly shouldn’t talk like this with a police officer, a teacher or a professor. Their meaning has to be interpreted in the specific context, also by considering the intonation and the associated facial expressions and gestures. The meaning of “Boh” is quite simple. It basically means “I really don't know” of “I haven’t a clue” (a bit like the British term “Dunno”), but it can also be interpreted as “who knows?”, or “maybe”. “Beh” is a bit more complex. During a conversation, it allows the speaker to take some time to think, and acts as a pause while trying to decide what to say. With a different higher intonation, it can also express feelings of doubt or reticence, as if the speaker is reluctant to say something bad or negative. In these cases it is very similar to the English word “Well …”. With a more interrogative tone and a rising intonation “Be” is a shortened version of “Bene” (“Fine”, “OK” or “Well then”) and is a way of asking someone for his/her opinion or statement or final decision. It can therefore be translated as “So?” or “What's happening?” In my opinion, “Bah” is a sort of combination of the “Boh” that expresses ignorance, and the “Beh” that expresses doubt or uncertainty. However “Bah” adds a more dismissive note of disinterest or even contempt. It more or less corresponds to English expressions like “I don't know what to say”, “We'll see”, “I don't really care”, or “It's no good”. Of course, I can't explain the additional nuances of facial expressions and body language here in writing on this website, so you’ll just have to come to Italy and try mimicking us in person!