Italian expression of the day: ‘Avere una brutta cera’
This is one for flu season.
One Italian phrase you’re more likely to hear at this time of year than any other is avere una brutta cera (hear it pronounced here ).
It means that someone looks like they’re in a bad way, usually due to illness or overexertion.
Sei sicuro che sia stata una buona idea venire al lavoro? Hai una brutta cera. Are you sure it was a good idea to come in to work? You look really ill.
Edoardo ha proprio una brutta cera, temo che stia prendendo l'influenza. Edoardo looks like he’s in really bad shape, I’m afraid he’s coming down with the flu.
When I first encountered this phrase in a book, I assumed the ‘cera’ referred, as it usually does, to wax, suggesting that the person you were talking about had a ‘waxen’ appearance.
But according to the Treccani dictionary, it actually comes from the antique French chiere , meaning face, itself taken from the ancient Greek κάρα , for head.
Telling someone they have a ‘brutta cera’, then, literally means they have an ugly face; not the most morale-boosting feedback to receive when you’re five packs of tissues deep and powering through on ibuprofen and willpower.
Of course, what they’re really saying is that you look much worse than you normally do, and that you should probably get back to bed.
It’s not just used to talk about sickness, it could apply, for example, when someone’s very stressed or has received bad news.
L'ho visto proprio adesso mentre riattaccava il telefono; aveva una brutta cera. I saw him just now as he was hanging up the phone; he looked like he’d seen a ghost.
Conversely, you can say someone has a ‘bella cera’ to mean they're looking well, though you’ll most often hear it used in the negative to imply they look a bit off, if not quite in brutta cera territory.
Considerando tutto quello che le è successo nell'ultimo mese, ha una bella cera! Considering everything that's happened this past month, she looks great!
Ti senti bene, Laura? Non hai una bella cera. Are you feeling all right, Laura? You look a bit peaky.
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