Christmas is in the air. So I though, why don’t we just take a break from the usual topic, and I teach you a few Christmas words?

How can I not start with Santa who is Babbo Natale in Italian, “Father Christmas” or maybe I should say Gesù Bambino, “Baby Jesus.” Yes, because many kids are told that Babbo Natale brings them gifts and others are told that Gesù Bambino does. Personally, when I was a kid, I was told both: my grandma was deeply religious, so she would tell me it was Gesù Bambino, but TV and commercials were already big fans of Santa. I believe most kids nowadays receive gifts from Babbo Natale. How does he travel? Of course, with his renne, “reindeer” (pl.), and on his slitta, “sleigh,” and with the help of his elfi, “elves."

But what do they bring? How do you say “gifts” in Italian? We have two ways to say it: regalo, plural regali, and dono, plural doni. Regali is more used when speaking commonly; you can use it for birthdays, special occasions, and, of course, Christmas. While you are more likely to hear doni in Christmas carols or literature, even poems. Two other nice verbs to know when talking about gifts are impacchettare, “to wrap,” and scartare, “to unwrap.” But where are they left? Well, usually Babbo Natale travels down the camino – “chimney” – and leaves them under the albero di Natale, “Christmas tree,” of course. The albero is decorated with decorazioni natalizie, palline, and festoni, “ornaments.” A lot of Italians, however, also have a presepe in their house, a “nativity scene.” Usually, the little statues are made of wood or gesso and we set up the entire scene with Mary, Joseph, and the donkey and ox. However, we place baby Jesus only the night of the 24^th of December. And later on, on January 6^th, the Three Kings as well. It is a work in progress throughout the entire holiday.

Then we have the cenone, “feast.” Here, Italians are divided into those who have the cenone on Christmas Eve, usually at dinner, and those who have it on Christmas day, usually at lunch. And of course Italians spend the cenone with the family, because, as you probably remember from last year’s Christmas article, the saying goes: Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi, “Christmas with your family, Easter with whoever you want.”

But this wouldn’t be a useful post if I didn’t teach you how to wish happy holidays. In Italian we have different ways of saying this. The first is auguri, which is a generic way of whishing Merry Christmas, happy holidays, even happy birthday. It’s similar to a “congratulations” but applies to many more situations. Then, we have Buon Natale which is very specific to Christmas and it translates to “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Christmas.” Lastly, if you want to be more generic, or even include other holidays in this magical time of the year, you can simply say Buone Feste – “Happy Holidays.” What’s left to say? Buone feste to you all!