Close

Alessandro Masi

Alessandro is from 1999 the Secretary General of Dante Alighieri Society, the Italian institution committed in teaching the Italian language all over the world. Professor, art historian, member of several committee on art, writer, he dedicated all hi

WTI Magazine #9    2013 Dec, 13Author : Alessandro Masi      Translation by:   The verb, used today mostly in the figurative sense, originates in games like bowling or billiards, in which you win by rejecting (bouncing) something. The latest news tells us of failures, rejections that threaten to undermine the entir...

1786

WTI Magazine #6    2013 Nov, 22Author : Alessandro Masi      Translation by:   In ancient Rome the patrimonium (patrimony) was the whole property received as an inheritance from the father. The term has a meaning even in a figurative sense: not only money and property, but also feelings, values, memories, everythin...

1330

WTI Magazine #10    2013 Dec, 20Author : Alessandro Masi      Translation by:   The word originates from the verb "to buff", indicating the action of strongly blowing, whether if related to humans or to the wind. The last few weeks have been full of storms, both real and metaphorical. The real ones leave dismayed,...

1586

WTI Magazine #8    2013 Dec, 6Author : Alessandro Masi      Translation by:   "Viluppo" (Tangle) is an ancient word derived from the Latin verb volvere ("to turn, wind") and means "envelope", or as we would say today, "wrapping". Develop, therefore, is the action that you do when you take away something from his ta...

1357

WTI Magazine #7    2013 Nov, 29Author : Alessandro Masi      Translation by:   In ancient greek "TESSARA" meant "four" and the adjective "tessaràgonos" described quadrangular objects. Among the Latin the shorten form "tessera" was used for example for nuts, tickets, vouchers to get food. A little bit like for us: c...

1491

WTI Magazine #5    2013 Nov, 15Author : Alessandro Masi      Translation by:   From the Latin cum-promittere, meaning "taking together", or better "taking the commitment to do something together". Not a bad thing in itself, at least for the Romans. But you know, the story is not always progress-oriented: today the...

1413

WTI Magazine #4    2013 Nov, 8Author : Alessandro Masi      Translation by:   Derived from the Latin compensate, "weigh together", which referred to the idea of balance: you are worth that much, I give you that much. But today, when everybody earn little no matter what they are worth, we with some suspicion who is...

1297

WTI Magazine #3    2013 Nov, 1 Author : Alessandro Masi      Translation by:   The word comes from the Latin indultum, past participle of the verb indulge. The meaning is clear (to be lenient, forgiving), and even today the term refers to the well-known measure by which you assign a discount of punishment to the prisoners.   A gesture of cleme...

1475