There is an often-repeated story that the Eskimos (or Inuit, if you are up to date) have a large range of terms to describe snow, based upon the idea (I suppose) that a good deal of their life is bound up with snow in its various forms and conditions. Preparing for my Italian conversation class this morning I was amazed to discover how many Italian words there are that can all be translated by the single English term “dull”. As my experience, not only of Italians, but also of their food, their weather, their art, their politics and many other aspects of Italian life would not seem to justify this exceptional richness of vocabulary, I have spent a part of the rest of the pondering the question of how this came about. Any ideas?
PS. I’ve actually begun to think about art again this morning, after crossing an artistic desert for several months. I do hope that it isn’t a mirage.