“Spaghetti” Means Little Strings

“Spaghetti” Means Little Strings
There are hundreds of kinds of pasta. Some of the well-known types of pasta, such as “spaghetti” and “cannelloni”, have retained their Italian names and are used in English-speaking countries. The translation of these words into English is “little strings” and “large reeds”. Other types of pasta have English names, such as “bow tie pasta” (farfalle) and “elbow macaroni” (maccheroni). You can actually learn a lot of language by studying the names of pasta. For example, tortelleni means “little pies”, while linguine means “little tongues”. “Gemelli” is an S-shaped pasta twisted up to form a spiral. The Italian word for this pasta translates to “twins” in English. Next time you order “vermicelli”, inspect the shape to see if you can figure out what this word translates to in English. Don’t be surprised if it turns you off your dinner.

1. The word “spaghetti” translates to little strings.
2. The reading mentions “twins” because “gemelli” is a spiral-shaped pasta that looks like two strands, but is actually one strand twisted together.
3. At the end of the report, listeners are challenged to look closely at the pasta known as “vermicelli” to try to figure out what the word means in English. (It means “little worms”.)