Italy's Exclusive Ailments

Fidgety · #1 04.12.2011, 13:40

Having a few Italian friends, this article made me laugh - Very true.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15987082

#2 04.12.2011, 14:38

LOL I do know some friends that always complain of 'la vercicale'...and my liver hurts was just too funny...

Thanks for sharing!

venice · #3 04.12.2011, 14:51

spot on!

adrianlondon · #4 04.12.2011, 14:55

Amusing. And in France they keep suffering from restless and heavy legs. In Germany (and here in Switzerland I believe) people are afraid of draughts whatever the temperature.

Nickers · #5 04.12.2011, 14:56

oi you pinched my old avatar

adrianlondon · #6 04.12.2011, 14:59

	Quote:	Nickers
	oi you pinched my old avatar

You snooze you lose.

Fidgety · #7 04.12.2011, 17:37

My Italian friend always has her scarf around her neck if she has a cold....plus I read her the article, she found it funny but also said "colpo d'aria" its true, I get it.

Funny that I don't.

venice · #8 04.12.2011, 17:55

	Quote:	Fidgety
	My Italian friend always has her scarf around her neck if she has a cold....plus I read her the article, she found it funny but also said "colpo d'aria" its true, I get it. Funny that I don't.

that's because we italians are sooo sensitive

our grandmas and mums have forced us to grow up wearing the notorious "maglietta della salute" ("health shirt"), ie an undershirt, no matter the weather! needles to say, as as soon as we reach an age in which they can't force us to wear it any more, off it goes. only our immune system isn't working properly any more after having been pampered for so many years and so we are easy prey to the worst ailments.

I remember when my mother noticed I wasn't using the "maglietta della salute" any more as a university student (not living at home). I can still see her shocked face before me spelling out: now anything can happen!!!
I think the shock couldn't have been greater if I had come home on a harley davidson with a hells angels squadron.
well, I'm still alive and well, notwithstanding my regular "cervicale" bouts, of course.

but guess what my kids have to wear all the time...

cinzia_t · #9 04.12.2011, 20:00

My mother in law suffers heavily from cervicale and last year, when she had the great idea to slip on the snow on the very first day of our Christmas holiday and ended up in hospital, she tried to explain this to the Swiss doctor who asked about existing pathologies. I am still laughing about this.
Not mentioned in the article but traditional Italian:
Kids have to change swimming suit after swimming in the sea because it is unhealthy to be with a wet one (of course with 35°C outside)
Woman in their period are not supposed to take a bath because it is somehow... dangerous.

BokerTov · #10 09.12.2011, 18:13

	Quote:	Fidgety
	"colpo d'aria"

	Quote:	venice
	the notorious "maglietta della salute" ("health shirt")

	Quote:	cinzia_t
	cervicale

The memories...

My grandma still notices I am not wearing the "health shirt" anymore, and repeats that I am bound to for sure get a "colpo d'aria" and then later on a "cervicale" on top of that!

Great article, funny but true.

st2lemans · #11 09.12.2011, 18:35

	Quote:	Federica
	then later on a "cervicale" on top of that

'Cervicale' is my wife's number one ailment.

Tom

thekelves · #12 09.12.2011, 20:38

man, this is such a funnny article. Coming from NY and married to an italian woman, I can certainly relate to this article. They come up with ailments that don't exisit in the English dictionary. My wife has come up with or mentioned ailments that would only make sense if you knew the entire periodic table of elements.

#13 09.12.2011, 21:24

The French and Romands are just as bad

they can catch a cold with a rush of air too - j'ai pris un courant d'air

and they also suffer from their liver

j'ai une crise de foie - a liver crisis.

And the kidneys too - for lower back ache 'j'ai mal aux reins'.
I love that one though 'j'ai les reins qui sifflent' - my kidneys are whistling , for really bad back ache.
Or 'j'ai les genoux qui sifflent' my knees are whistling.

And this one 'je patine dans la choucroute' I am skating in sauerkraut! I'm feeling really unwell - or it is all above my head.

Sapin · #14 09.12.2011, 21:56

Excellent! Funny that it mentions Brits having just tummy aches. It sounds a bit silly!
My Swiss contacts know a lot more about their aches and pains! Actually, I've heard someone talk about their liver hurting!
As for the old catching a cold, doesn't matter how many times I tell my husband you cannot catch a cold by being cold... It's germs, he will not accept that fact. I admit that it can make you more susceptible, but as far as I know, you don't just start sneezing because you don't wear a jumper indoors.

adrianlondon · #15 13.12.2011, 12:01

The reprise

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16141184

Helm · #16 13.12.2011, 12:25

The worse part is most of this stuff makes me think about home... Oh the dreadful "health vest"...

And this:

	Quote:
	We were fed horror stories about children who had disobeyed the no-swimming rule, only to be hit by intestinal cramps in the water, something which apparently turned you blue in the face and caused you to drown. This meant the hottest part of the day - the hours after lunch - were spent sitting on the beach watching the foreign kids frolic in the surf. The Italians shook their heads sadly at this blatant parental ignorance. A full meal required a three hour no-swimming rule. A couple of biscuits might set you back half an hour. Every minute counted. "Can I go in yet?" would be met by, say, "Eleven minutes to go."

This is so true makes me wanna cry for all those hours stuck under the sun-umbrella, pouting under a heavy shirt, a broad-brimmed hat and watch the waves from a very big distance... ARGH!

Ouchboy · #17 13.12.2011, 12:55

	Quote:	Helm
	The worse part is most of this stuff makes me think about home... Oh the dreadful "health vest"... And this: This is so true makes me wanna cry for all those our stuck under the sun-umbrella, pouting under a heavy shirt, a broad-brimmed hat and watch the waves from a very big distance... ARGH!

Hhahaha yeah, those mom stories dammmmnn!!!

st2lemans · #18 13.12.2011, 13:38

	Quote:	adrianlondon
	The reprise http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16141184

"Which brings me to another product which Italian pharmacies stock plenty of - vaginal washes or douches. They may not be common in Britain but enter an Italian home, and if women live there, you can be pretty sure to find one in the bathroom."

Yes, I can verify this to be true!

(and they even take them camping

)

Tom

ullainga · #19 13.12.2011, 13:44

each country has their own illnesses and cures. I was very surprised when I discovered that most people had never heard of vodka socks as treatment.

My French husband was horrified when I and a Latvian friend ate cherries and drank beer. Apparently this will immediately kill you. As we had never heard of that ban, it didn't have any effect.

Helm · #20 13.12.2011, 13:56

	Quote:	ullainga
	most people had never heard of vodka socks as treatment.

Vodka... Socks...?

That... sounds... interesting...

Can I have the recepie for this... cure?