Forza! Italy’s own way to show support and invite to hold on when things get difficult, is one little powerful word. And powerful is, indeed, the right term, as “forza” means strength in English. From an etymological point of view, the word comes the Late Latin fortia (which is turn derives from the Classical Latin adjective fortis) and came into use in the second half of the 13th century.  

It means strength, we said, but it can be used in a wide variety of situations. It is particularly popular when we want to encourage someone to chin up and go on, to show our closeness to them in a moment of difficulty or, quite simply, to support and incite. In this, Italy’s “forza” resembles quite closely the English expression “come on,” and it is used very much in the same way.