# Gamberi - gamberetti - scampi - gamberoni



## Ilios82

Why my dictionary use for these words the same translation, shrimp or prawn?

Potete per favore darmi le giuste traduzioni?
Grazie!!!!


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## Saoul

Ilios82 said:
			
		

> Why my dictionary use for these words the same translation, shrimp or prawn?
> 
> Potete per favore darmi le giuste traduzioni?
> Grazie!!!!



Perchè sono pigri, gli autori del tuo dizionario, credo! 

Allora ho trovato su varie fonti (de mauro, garzanti linguistica, collins):

Scampo = Norway Lobster
Gambero d'acqua dolce = crayfish (AE), crawfish (BE)
Gambero di mare = prawn
Gamberetto = shrimp

Sfortunatamente, non riesco a trovare una traduzione per gamberone, se non uno strano "lobster" utilizzato su un sito di cucina inglese. I madrelingua potranno dirci se accomunano sotto il nome di lobster svariati tipi di crostacei.

Spero ti possa essere d'aiuto.
Saoul


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## Mack the Knife

I think that *prawn* is the _gamberone_, while *shrimp* is the _gamberetto_...


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## Saoul

I'm sorry Mack but De Mauro disagrees:

Prawn

Along with garzanti linguistica:

Lemma	  Traduzione in sintesi
prawn 	s. (zool.) gambero, gamberetto, palemone; scampo.

and collins

Prawn           n
                   gamberetto.


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## Mack the Knife

I respect your (and Collins)  opinion, but if you go to the restaurant and you order a shrimp cocktail, you will have _gamberetti_, if you order grilled prawn you will have _gamberoni_...but this is only an empirical fact.

We should go indepth into the crustacean classification..maybe we need a biologist more than a linguist...


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## Saoul

Mack the Knife said:
			
		

> I respect your (and Collins)  opinion, but if you go to the restaurant and you order a shrimp cocktail, you will have _gamberetti_, if you order grilled prawn you will have _gamberoni_...but this is only an empirical fact.
> 
> We should go indepth into the crustacean classification..maybe we need a biologist more than a linguist...



Or the nearest restaurant possible, and help us to some shrimps and prawns and lobsters... but actually I don't feel like relying on a restaurant menu for linguistic issues. This is kind of a thing I would like a dictionary for, more than "Pippo o' pesciaro".


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## Mack the Knife

Correct, my friend!!!


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## TimLA

What a great question, that allowed me to spend an insomnic hour looking up this stuff. Seeing as that I spend far too much time in Italian restaurants, this has always been an important question for me, so I went to a variety of scientific and culinary websites and found the following information. Now things are even more confusing! The data below include common Italian names, some scientific names (genus species) and common AE names.

After all this I think the following might be true.
1. At the culinary level, shrimp and prawns are interchangeable.
2. At the scientific level, there is little difference between shrimp and prawns
3. Gambero can mean many different types of shrimp and crayfish
4. Scampi can mean both lobster and prawns
5. "-etto" and "-one" just refer to the size of the gamberos.

I wonder if "gambero" in Italian implies an animal (crustacean) with many legs?????

Gambero – Orconectes, Crayfish
Gambero nord-americano - Orconectes limosus, Austropotamobius pallipes, crayfish, crawdad, crawdaddy, gambero di fiume,
Gambero bianco – Parapenaeus longirostris, gambero bianco, gambero rosa, large deep-water rose shrimp
Gambero rosa - Pasiphaea multidentata, pink glass shrimp
Gambero rosso (mediterraneo) – Aristeus antennatus, red royal prawn, gambero rosso chiaro, gambero viola, Aristaeomorpha foliacea - giant red shrimp, giant gamba prawn, Lysmata nilita- red bar cleaner shrimp
Gambero di fango, Gambero minore, Solenocera membranaceaAtlantic mud shrimp -
Gambero imperiale, Gamberone mediterraneo Spannochio, Melicertus kerathurus
Gamberetto rosso - Lysmata seticaudatamonaco shrimp, gambero in pijiama
Gambero di sabia - Crangon crangon – common shrimp
Gamberetto – Penaeidae, Penaeid shrimp
Gamberetto - Palaemon adspersus, Baltic prawn (FAO), Plain shrimp
Scampi piccoli - Metanephrops andamanicus, Andaman lobster
Gambero invasivo Procambarus clarkia
Scampi – Norway lobsters (nephrops norwegicus), shimp (penaeid), shrimp or lobster
Scampo – Nephropidae – small lobster or prawn, “The Italian name for the tail portion of any of several varieties of miniature lobsters. In the U.S., the term refers to large shrimp that are split and brushed in a garlic oil or butter, then broiled.” HERE

No culinary difference between shrimp and prawns - HERE

Shrimp and prawns nearly the same scientifically - HERE

Good general scientific reference - HERE


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## Mack the Knife

Dear TimLA
I agree to you up to a point.
As far as the Italian names are involved, _gambero_ is a quite general definition, while _gamberetto_ is the little one (the one you can find in the shrimp cocktail) while the _gamberone_ is the big  one, the one you usually can eat grilled and that is called in English language, as far as I know, prawn; moreover, the _scampo_ or _scampone_ is another crustacean species, with a very sweet taste, sometimes called in English  scampi or langoustine.

Furthermore, in Italy we have the _mazancolla_, a sort of big prawn and the _aragostella_, a mix between langouste and prawn.

I am sure that everybody knows that the lobster is the _astice_ (the one with big claws) and not the _aragosta_, that is the langouste or spiny lobster (with unenlarged first pair of legs and claws)


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## Ilios82

hey guys!
Thank you very much, even if I'm more confued right now!!!!!!!
But thanks the same!
The reason of my answer is that I work as a waiter and I don't wanna serve prawns for shrimps and vice versa!
Ciao belli!!!!!


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## carlasimone

Qual è la differenza fra "scampo" , "gambero" e "gamberetto"?
Non sò se parlate inglese ,ma se lo parlate vi dirò che *"gamberetto"*credo che voglia dire "shrimp" (insalata /cocktail di gamberetti) /crevette in francese /gamba in spagnolo; "*gambero/gamberone"* (sono la stessa cosa,vero?) credo che si traduca come "prawn" /grosse crevette (francese) /langostino(spagnolo) ,e "*scampo*" credo che sia un crostaceo con spine e chele piccole (né i gamberi né i gamberetti ne hanno ), si traduce in inglese come crawfish ,crayfish /langoustine (francese) /cigala (spagnolo) , ma molte volte ho trovato che "scampo" lo traducevano come gambero/gamberone" .Questa è una traduzione sbagliata ,vero?


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## DanyD

Su google ho trovato:

gamberetti
gamberi
gamberoni

Per quanto ne so, gambero e gamberone non sono la stessa cosa: il gamberone è molto più grande e l'ho mangiato, ad esempio, nella paella (per citare un piatto spagnolo  ), mentre i gamberi sono poco più grandi dei gamberetti e ci assomigliano.


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## Einstein

TimLA is a fantastic researcher as always!

Just two points to add:
At least in Chinese restaurants they talk about "king prawns" to mean big ones.
I've often heard "scampi" used in English too, but I have some doubts about what they really are.

Translations are often difficult where food is concerned. The "angler fish", in Italian, is called "coda di rospo"; I saw it translated on a menu as "toad's tail".

Oops, I've just remembered this is an old thread!


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## corky81

Salve nel mio paese solitamente si intende:

- gamberetti o gamberi si intendono quelli piccoli, credo che tradotto in inglese sia shrimps

- gamberoni si intendono le mazzancolle e credo che tradotto sia prawn

come scritto qui http://www.wordreference.com/iten/gambero

- scampi ho trovato leggendo anche qui http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=100098 che si possono chiamare prawns o Norway lobster.

ora volevo chiedere se conoscevate il nome preciso.
- Da quel che ho capito shrimps sono i gamberetti.
- i gamberoni o mazzancolle, sono detti prawn?
- gli scampi quindi li devo chiamare Norway lobster o   Norwegian lobster_ _?_
_- Lobster credo sia aragosta_, _quindi norwegian lobster sono gli scampi?

scusate ma questa cosa non mi è molto chiara...

grazie


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## london calling

corky81 said:


> - gamberetti o gamberi  - Gamberetti = _shrimps_; gamberi =_ prawns_, ma è un discorso un po' teorico: ho visto che spesso vengono utilizzati indifferentemente i due termini.
> 
> - gamberoni si intendono le mazzancolle e credo che tradotto sia prawn: *King* prawns!
> 
> 
> - scampi ho trovato leggendo anche qui http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=100098 che si possono chiamare prawns o Norway lobster. Mai sentito. in Inghilterra li chiamiamo scampi _(scampi and chips_, per esempio)


 
Però, ci potrebbero essere differenza fra i termini inglesi e quelli americani.


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## rrose17

Gamberetti o gamberi we call _shrimp_. LC in BE do you say shrimp*s*? Here it is always singular. Also on this side we don't use the word prawns. I think most people would know what you mean but we just say shrimp, regardless of their size. 
For gamberoni we would say _jumbo shrimp_.
For scampi we say _scampi_. I've never seen or heard Norway Lobster either.


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## Einstein

I confirm: Scampi = scampi.


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## Murphy

Personally, I call both gamberetti and gamberi "prawns".  Gamberoni are "King prawns" as LC has already said.

According to wikipedia, the Norway lobster is one name for scampi, which in the UK is usually known as the "Dublin Bay prawn".  This is the name which I find most familier.  I have to confess that when I hear "scampi" in English, I automatically think of the breaded, deep-fried version served with chips that is described in the wiki entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scampi


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## Einstein

Murphy said:


> Personally, I call both gamberetti and gamberi "prawns".


Yes, I think shrimps are smaller than what would be served in a restaurant. I don't think I've seen "shrimps" on a menu.


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## kythris

Hi!
Here I never see prawns but usually shrimps, jumbo shrimps and scampi. I saw prawns just in recipes, not in menus. And they call shrimps things way bigger then Italian gamberetti!!!
ciao!


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## london calling

rrose17 said:


> Gamberetti o gamberi we call _shrimp_. LC in BE do you say shrimp*s*? Yes!  Here it is always singular. Also on this side we don't use the word prawns. I think most people would know what you mean but we just say shrimp, regardless of their size.
> For gamberoni we would say _jumbo shrimp_.
> For scampi we say _scampi_. I've never seen or heard Norway Lobster either.


There we are then!  

I as a BE speaker distinguish between _shrimps_ (which are smaller - gamberetti) and_ prawns_ (which are bigger) and _king prawns_ (even bigger still - gamberoni). I had, however, noticed that in the States (east, west and south) they often didn't make the distinction between shrimps and prawns; I'd forgotten all about _jumbo shrimps_, but now you mention it I remember that from a place in Florida which served up seafood which came straight off the local fishing boats.


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## IceX

Hi all! I'm newbie

i read this post and i think:
- Gamberi: shrimps
- gamberetti (smaller and usually without head): shirmps
- gamberoni (bigger and usually with head): prawns or tiger prawns (accordind to species)
- scampi: langoustine
- astice: lobster


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## Marbor

Well, 
I've lived for four year down in Savanah GA and at the restaurant I've always ordered shrimp, jumbo shrimp and lobster, seldom I heard prawn.
Does this help?
Ciao


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## Einstein

I think we have the confirmation that this is an AE/BE difference. In GB shrimps are very small ones, not so commonly served in restaurants, where the smallest are prawns, king prawns etc. As a child I remember catching small shrimps with a net along the sea-shore.
Evidently in America shrimps are bigger, to the exclusion of prawns.

I would say "prawn cocktail", but googling I see that it's outnumbered by more than 3 to 1 by "shrimp cocktail".


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## london calling

IceX said:


> i read this post and i think:
> - Gamberi: shrimps
> - gamberetti (smaller and usually without head): shirmps
> - gamberoni (bigger and usually with head): prawns or tiger prawns (accordind to species)
> - scampi: langoustine
> - astice: lobster


We don't say "langoustine" in BE to mean scampi: we say _scampi_. I know what it is, but only because I speak French: my mother would have no idea what a langoustine is). And I agree with Einstein regards the difference in BE between prawns and shrimps.

_Lobster _=  astice oppure aragosta (American lobster/European lobster)


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## IceX

london calling said:


> We don't say "langoustine" in BE to mean scampi: we say _scampi_. I know what it is, but only because I speak French: my mother would have no idea what a langoustine is).



Ok, right.. it's a french word. 
But i've found "langoustine" under "english-italian" wordreference's dictionary.. It's a mistake?


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## Murphy

IceX said:


> Ok, right.. it's a french word.
> But i've found "langoustine" under "english-italian" wordreference's dictionary.. It's a mistake?


You might find it used in restaurants or some shops which are trying to sound sophisticated (as is the case with many French words), but probably not in everyday language....


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## london calling

IceX said:


> Ok, right.. it's a french word.
> But i've found "langoustine" under "english-italian" wordreference's dictionary.. It's a mistake?


No, I meant we don't use the word in British English to mean scampi, to my knowledge, but maybe the Americans use it. I don't know about the Australians (although AusE is often very similar to, if not exactly the same as, BE).

This  however is what the BBC has to say about langoustines (I quote) :

_Originally found off the coast of Norway (which is how they acquired their other name, Norway lobster) langoustine are a member of the lobster family and are closely related to Dublin Bay prawns and scampi, for which they are often mistaken. These days they are caught along the Atlantic coast, including Scotland, as well as the western Mediterranean and the Adriatic, though overfishing has meant that they are extremely rare, and even more of a delicacy than they were previously_. 

If you read this, they say it's related to scampi, but is not actually scampi, although people often think it is scampi. 

I've learnt something new!


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## Giona76

Well, here below what I have found:

- Gamberettosmaller and usually without head) shrimp AE&BE
- Gambero: prawn BE/ Shrimp AE
While in biological terms shrimps and prawns belong to different species, they are very similar in appearance. 
See Shrimp_vs_Prawn

- Gamberone: tiger prawn BE/ tiger shrimp AE 
see Tiger_Shrimp/Prawn

- Scampi: scampi BE/ ??? AE
See Scampi

- Astice: lobster AE&BE
See Lobster

Hope this helps 
Enjoy them


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## IceX

london calling said:


> No, I meant we don't use the word in British English to mean scampi, to my knowledge, but maybe the Americans use it. I don't know about the Australians (although AusE is often very similar to, if not exactly the same as, BE).
> 
> This  however is what the BBC has to say about langoustines (I quote) :
> 
> _Originally found off the coast of Norway (which is how they acquired their other name, Norway lobster) langoustine are a member of the lobster family and are closely related to Dublin Bay prawns and scampi, for which they are often mistaken. These days they are caught along the Atlantic coast, including Scotland, as well as the western Mediterranean and the Adriatic, though overfishing has meant that they are extremely rare, and even more of a delicacy than they were previously_.
> 
> If you read this, they say it's related to scampi, but is not actually scampi, although people often think it is scampi.
> 
> I've learnt something new!



This is the point! I'm italian and i live near Adriatic sea; here we call "scampi" the animal that you linked... 
If you search "Norway lobster" on Wikipedia [ENG] you can understand what i mean...

However... i've learnt something new (/strange) me too


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## curiosone

Ciao a tutti 

I tend to agree with RRose that "shrimp" (on the North American side of the pond) is always singular.  
 "Shrimps" sounds really strange.


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## daniela78

Hi.. I would like to add to this even if it's old..

as already been said: shrimps are gamberetti
prawns are gamberi
King prawns are gamberoni.
Tiger prawns are mazzancolle
Crayfish is used usually for "gambero rosso della Louisiana" and similar freshwater species.
Norway lobster is the name for scampo.

I am still missing the "cicale di mare" translation, though.


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## curiosone

daniela78 said:


> Hi.. I would like to add to this even if it's old..
> 
> as already been said: shrimps are gamberetti
> prawns are gamberi
> King prawns are gamberoni.
> Tiger prawns are mazzancolle
> Crayfish is used usually for "gambero rosso della Louisiana" and similar freshwater species.
> Norway lobster is the name for scampo.
> 
> I am still missing the "cicale di mare" translation, though.



Hi Daniela, and Welcome to the Forum!

I wish to repeat that the translations you specified above (in English) are correct only in BrE (not AmE).  And for once Canadians agree with "statunitensi" on this one.   If you say "shrimps" in North America, people will correct you.  And not all will understand "prawn" (restauranteurs probably would, but inland residents likely wouldn't - and there's a lot of land between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts). And we (mountaineers and catfish consumers and farmers) certainly would not distinguish between King and Tiger varieties (nor have idea what you're talking about).  As rrose said (in post # 18) we only make a distinction between "shrimp" (always singular) and "jumbo shrimp" (and they're usually frozen)

Regarding your question about "_cicale di mare_", I live on the Adriatic coast and wasn't familiar with the term, so looked them up in the dictionary.  I think I know them as "_canocchie_" (singular: _canocchia_), which I only learned about in Romagna (from locals).  And since I had never seen anything similar when visiting relatives on the Atlantic coast (which is the only place I ate fresh sea fish, growing up), I have always called them "canocchie" (in Italian) - like "scampi" is usually translated to "scampi".  It simply isn't something I've ever seen on a menu in an American seafood restaurant.

On the other hand, we do have "_scallops_" (often served in a sauce, and not on the shell), which correspond to _cape sante _(coquilles Saint-Jacques).  And since (on the New England seacoast, anyway) there are different varieties, I learned to distinguish between "bay scallops" (smaller and more flavorful) and regular "scallops" (ocean scallops, which are larger).


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## daniela78

Hi Curiosone, thanks for your welcome. Yes... I am only into BE. I learnt them as I have worked in restaurants it Italy and had an interest in the language.

For as regards scallops, I think that "bay scallops" may be what is called "canestrelly" here. Similar, but smaller and sweeter.


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## renato52

Salve a tutti. In base a mia esperienza e dopo aver letto i vari post qui sopra, io tradurrei così:
Gamber(ett)i  = Shrimps
Gamberoni = Prawns (King, eventualmente)
(sia di mare sia di fiume/lago)
I precedenti due NON HANNO CHELE -

Scampi= Crayfish
Aragostina= Langoustine
Astice e Aragosta = Lobster
Questi quattro invece HANNO CHELE.

My two cents.


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## metazoan

Biology itself imposes the main challenge here, with a vast number (~3900) of species of shrimp/prawns. Decapods have not yet received the deep and systematic treatment based on DNA sequence that has revolutionized understanding of mammals, birds, plants, and bacteria. A paper by De Grave et al 2009 classifies the decapods and tabulates species counts (17635 total) like this.
The smaller suborder Dendrobranchiata has 540 species that are mostly called prawns (although some can be called shrimp). The larger suborder Pleocyemata is divided into 10 infraorders, with the following counts:
Stenopodidea (stenopodidean shrimp) 69,
Caridea ("true" shrimp, although some can be called prawns) 3268,
Astacidea (crayfish and lobsters) 653,
Glypheidea (glypheoid lobsters) 2,
Axiidea 423, Gebiidea 192, Achelata 140, Polychelida 38,
Anomura (hermit crabs, king crabs, squat lobsters) 2451, and
Brachyura (crabs) 6559

There's hope for good English/Italian name pairs for the commonly eaten European species, but for the world-wide market, not much. Buon appetito.


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