6 Easy Italian Phrases to Master While Watching Disney’s “Luca”

Once upon a time, next to the pristine Italian waters of the faraway land of Portorosso, lives a boy named Luca. Just like any other teenage sea monster, Luca is adventurous. He is curious about his surroundings and dares to chase his dream of traveling the world with his best friend, Alberto. The new Disney/Pixar movie “Luca” is a tale about the joys of summer, the beauty of friendships, and most importantly in finding yourself.

Quick fact: Portorosso is a fictional Italian town meaning red port. Porto means port and rosso means red. Portorosso is based on the Italian Riviera. Perhaps inspired by Portofino, a small village in Genoa or maybe even by Cinque Terre, the five towns in the Italian Riviera.

Without leaving the comforts of your home, let’s explore a bit of Italy with Luca and learn some Italian phrases along the way! Pronti, ai posti, via! (Ready, set, go!). Is the popcorn ready?

In “Luca” Alberto tells Luca, “Piacere, Girolamo Trombetta?” This roughly translates to, “Pleased to meet you.” In fact, the director himself, Enrico Casarosa, explained it on Twitter. Basically, the bit is a wordplay meaning “Nice meeting you, my name is Twisty Trombone.”

Luca has a friend named Giulia who works at the Pescheria (Fish Market). And Giulia taught both Alberto and Luca how to use a forchetta (fork). When it’s time to eat, you can say, “Mangiamo!” meaning, “Let’s eat!”

I ragazzi (the boys) even tried espresso (coffee). After you finish your coffee, you can thank the barista by saying “Grazie!” Then ride off into the sunset on your Vespa. Ciao!