Why Italians don't use the word "cibo"

Why Italians Barely Say "Cibo" (And What We Say Instead)

In Italy we do love our food and we do love eating well, but we barely use the word 'Cibo' (food). Probably because we love it too much to use such an empty word. A typical sentence before our 'spesa' (grocery shopping) is: 'dobbiamo comprare roba da mangiare' (literally: we have to buy stuff to eat – in English you'd say food).

Here another example: 'il mangiare a Napoli era fantastico' (the eating was fantastic in Naples) or 'i piatti erano deliziosi' (the dishes were delicious), 'amo la cucina italiana' (I love Italian cooking style), 'vado alla corsia degli alimentari' (I'm going to the food aisle (in a supermarket).

The word cibo (food) is a descriptive word that we usually use to describe the food for animals or other specific situations. For example 'i miei gatti mangiano il cibo umido' (my cats eat wet food), qualche volta il cibo secco (sometimes dry food). And when the doctor says: "Cibo leggero e poco condito" (Light food, easy on the seasoning – ugh, pass the olive oil!).

Ironically, we do borrow many English words and one of them is exactly food! We have the "Slow Food" festival in Turin! "Fast Food"? We don't always know what it means, but it sounds cool – and very likely Italian Fast food is better than normal fast food in general). Sounds edgy, but let's be real – our version (think arancini on the go) crushes the American drive-thru;-)

Are you wondering how we say that the food was good in a particular ristorante or pizzeria? Here is a snap of a typical Italian conversation:

Marco: 'Com'era il ristorante ieri sera?' (How was the restaurant last night?)

Stefania: 'Era buonissimo. Abbiamo mangiato benissimo! Ti raccomando i dolci che sono spettacolari' (It was very good. We ate very well! I am recommending you the desserts, they are spectacular).

Marco: 'Noi invece siamo andati da Maria, la pizzeria nuova, ma la pizza non mi è piaciuta per niente ed era carissima' (We, on the other hand, went to Maria's, the new pizzeria, but I didn't like the pizza at all, and it was very expensive).

Have you seen? The word cibo isn't mentioned a single time, but we talked about it!

Allora, do you want to bring your fluent Italian to the next level? Start getting accustomed with these expressions and idiomatic expressions:

la roba da mangiare (dobbiamo comprare roba da mangiare)

vado agli alimentari (usually a small negozio in a small village)

vado alla corsia degli alimentari (the food aisle in a supermarket)

in quel ristorante si mangia benissimo (we eat/one eats very well in that restaurant)

amo mangiare bene (I love eating well → I love good food)

Marco ama mangiare (Marco loves eating → he loves his food/food)

noi mangiamo sempre bene (we always eat well → we always eat good food)

mi piace mangiare sano (I like eating healthy)

Pro tip: Try "mangiare bene" next time – it's the Italian way to say "I food" without saying it. What's your favourite phrase?