OCT 2, Italian loanwords: ciao

 

Authors' Note: You can probably figure out how to pronounce the word 'ciao' if you  already know how to say ...

cello: the musical instrument, and 

Fauci: the well-known director of the American CDC (Centers for Disease Control), and pandemic maven.

Note, however, that in expressions like che schifo, the Italian letter 'H' blocks the vowel ('E' or 'I')  from softening the sound of the Italian 'C' into the ch'(church) sound of English, so that it retains its 'k' value. 

BTW, che schifo! means 'How disgusting! or How repulsive!, or Yuk!

You can review our entire poetic outpouring about Italian loanwords by proceeding to a post on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'; click HERE.