Mario Draghi’s irony on the abuse of English words

by time news

Time.news – “Who knows why we always have to use all these English words …”. Mario Draghi stops for a few seconds and inserts an off-the-cuff consideration in his speech after the visit to the anti-Covid vaccination center at Fiumicino Airport.

The Prime Minister allows himself a joke on Angloisms which now also populate current speech, after having firmly occupied – not without difficulty in the search for equally synthetic alternatives – that of sector specialists. And so it is with this joke, accompanied by a smile, that Draghi closes the passage in which he says that “for those who carry out activities that do not allow smart working, access to extraordinary parental leave or the baby-sitting contribution will be recognized” .

The Prime Minister’s irony about angles is music to the ears of Claudio Marazzini, president of the Accademia della Crusca, for almost 500 years engaged in the dissemination and study of the Italian language: “I am very happy that President Draghi, in this difficult moment for the country, has touched on this topic lightly and with a joke, but his position was understood”.

“Normally – adds Marazzini – when the excessive use of English terms is criticized, the accusation of provincialism is triggered. In Draghi’s case it is difficult to trigger it, given that for years he has made speeches in English, but when he speaks in Italian it arises the problem of using the appropriate terms in our language “.

Marazzini explains that “babysitting is now a difficult expression to replace but for smart working the Academy has for years indicated the term agile work. The problem is that with the pandemic many new English words have entered, therefore the observation of the Prime Minister seems to me a clear signal, beyond the term to which he intended to refer “.

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