Hello and happy 2023! The new year has started and we are all busy making our buoni propositi – new year’s resolutions. This month, I’ll take advantage of the new year to show some expressions – and superstitions connected to them! – Italians use in this occasion. Let’s see some!

Probably the most common expression is anno nuovo, vita nuova – new year, new life. It is a way to wish new and happy things in someone’s life, but also a way to encourage them to make the changes they’ve always wanted to, or even for them to leave something bad behind in the new year. It can also be used to respond to some big news happening with the new year.

There are so many adapted versions of this expression according to the context: you can replace vita with amore, lavoro, casa – love, job, house – but you can be creative and say whatever fits your situation.

Then there is quel che si fa il primo dell’anno si fa per tutto l’anno – what you do on the first day of the year, you’ll do all year around. Italians have this superstition that whatever you do the first day of the year, you’ll end up doing for the rest of the year. So, some Italians will try to do something good to make sure they’ll keep up with it, like going for a run or workout, or maybe trying being a bit healthier, or even being with their loved one. Of course, this is true for bad things that happened to you on New Year’s as well. So you need to be extra careful! The saying goes: Chi ____ a Capodanno, ___ tutto l’anno – those who ___ on New Year’s, ___ all year – and, of course, you need to fill the blank with whatever that thing is, for example, chi lavora a Capodanno, lavora tutto l’anno – those who work on the New Year’s, work all year − or even just an adjective or noun, felice a Capodanno, felice tutto l’anno – happy on New Year’s, happy all year.

Another Italian saying and superstition is Chi mangia lenticchie il primo dell’anno, tocca i soldi tutto l’anno – those who eat lentils the first day of the year will touch money all year. This implies that you must eat lentils on New Year’s in order to make money…or win it or find it…in other words to have money. If you think about it, one of the traditional dishes Italians eat on New Year’s Eve or New Years is cotechino con lenticchie, and actually, due to the superstition, some Italians will warm up and eat lentils at midnight right after cheering with some spumante. I must admit I am guilty of doing it as well. There’s also a version with grapes − Chi mangia l’uva il primo dell’anno, tocca i soldi tutto l’anno. In this case, people eat grapes at midnight right while the bells are still tolling.

Well, I was on my best behavior on New Year’s, I had both lentils and grapes at midnight, now I just have to hope it will all work out. In the meantime, I wish you buon anno and hope you get whatever new things you need in your life!