How would you like to win a billion dollars? Magari! any Italian would certainly answer.  “Magari” (pronounced: mah-gah-ree) is a little popular word Italians use in a huge amount of occasions, but it’s not always easy to translate it literally. It shows desire, wishful thinking, the need of something precise in our daily routine or, even more seriously, life. It can also, more simply, introduce a suggestionor a piece of advice. 

Seems complex? It really isn’t, but it’s better to take it one step at the time. Let’s start with its etymology, because it’s pretty curious indeed, and many Italians who use “magari” a million times a day probably ignore it, too. So, it seems that our little, beloved “magari” comes from the Greek makarios, which means “happy.” It was attested for the first time in the Italian language in 1303 and it never left center stage since.