# Kid



## sal tesio

How would I say "kid" in Italian. I need the slang for the word. Not bambino.

Can anyone tell me how to say "kid" in italian slang.  Not bambino or regazzo


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## mirandolina

Italians in this case tend to use a regional term. In the North of Italy it could be "boccia". No doubt some members from the South can suggest something else. A Tuscan version might be best....


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## miri

sal tesio said:
			
		

> how would i say "kid" in italian. I need the sland for the word. Not bambino.


 
Hi sal tesio! 
You meant you need the slan*g *for the word, I guess. 
Are you looking for a derogatory term, a playful one? The only words I can think of are "bimbo", "ragazzino", "sbarbatello", but, maybe apart from the last one, they are not slang. The connotations are pretty much conveyed by your tone of voice and by the context.


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## ikester

Perhaps the word you're looking for is _guaglione_...  or as spoken in southern dialect, _'uagliò_ (pronounced _wal-YO_)


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## Efreet

In Italian I would say: bimbo, ragazzino.

In my city the correct word, derived from the dialect, is _nano_ or _nani_.


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## sal tesio

thank you I Kester.  I have been using the word for years and have never known how to spell it.  Grazie uaglio.


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## Silvia

sal tesio said:
			
		

> how would i say "kid" in italian.


 Definitely ragazzo. Boccia is an old fashioned term and regional only. Guagliò is Neapolitan dialect, guaglione is the "Italianized term" for that region.

Anyway, if you gave us a sample phrase, we could choose something appropriate.


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## mirandolina

Ragazzo is simply "boy" or "child", it doesn't correspond to the slang form "kid". It's very difficult to find an alternative that isn't regional or dialect like the two we've come up with so far. I hoped the Tuscans might have had some suggestions.....!


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## mimitabby

how about Monello


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## Manuela

sal tesio said:
			
		

> can anyone tell me how to say "kid" in italian slang. Not bambino or regazzo


 
usually you would say bambino, ragazzo we are talking about a teenager, however I like "marmocchio" as a cute way of saying kid. If you go into the dialects there are so many names for kid:
scugnizzo= napoletano (Naples)
picciri`= napoletano
caruso=siciliano (sicily)
figghiolu=calabrese (Calabria)
uttero= ciociaro (Rome's suburbs)
etc..
I love dialects, they are so colorful

Monello in inglese e` BRAT
 is there two threads with the same title ? because i've just had "déja- vu"

I love "marmocchio"

that's what I call my son


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## Silvia

mirandolina said:
			
		

> Ragazzo is simply "boy" or "child", it doesn't correspond to the slang form "kid".


  

I would pay attention when coming up with such kind of certainties. 

Ragazzi can be slang and idiomatic for fellows or man and even for folks, depending on the context. For folks you can also use gente.

Ragazzi, che si fa stasera? Gente, che si fa stasera?
Ragazzi, smettetela di litigare.
Ragazzi, che botta!


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## Alfry

I think that it can be translated as
- ragazzo; bambino; ragazzino; giovane depending on the context
* there are kids of 18 making lots of money nowadays
* new kid on the block

or

- minore, più giovane (talking of fratello, sorella)
* kid brother = fratellino


googling I found this phrase, interesting:
* to handle s.o. with kid, trattare qualcuno con i guanti.
what I've often heard is the term Kiddie:
that can be translated as "di bambino", "di bimbo"
kiddie car = automobilina a pedali.


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## mirandolina

"to handle someone with kid gloves" has nothing to do with kids=children.
kid gloves are made of kid leather (pelle di capretto) and are therefore very fine and delicate.
So it means giving someone very special, delicate treatment.


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## Alfry

mirandolina said:
			
		

> "to handle someone with kid gloves" has nothing to do with kids=children.
> kid gloves are made of kid leather (pelle di capretto) and are therefore very fine and delicate.
> So it means giving someone very special, delicate treatment.


yes you are right, in that case kid = capretto but I thought it was an interesting thing to know


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## lsp

What about "giovanotto", is that older or younger than "kid"?


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## mirandolina

lsp said:
			
		

> What about "giovanotto", is that older or younger than "kid"?


 
Giovanotto is a young man, much too old to be a kid!


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## Silvia

I would say it's interesting how our cultures differ: you soon stop being a kid, but you never end to be a ragazzo!  (Idiomatically speaking that is...)

Anyway, at what age are you not a kid anymore?


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## Manuela

technically you are not a kid as soon as you hit your teenage years..but you could be a kid at heart until you are in your 90s and more


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## Napoletaness

Sal Tesio: My grandpop grew up with my grandmom in the Naples Italy area, and she was like a "kid" to him, so he always called her "viol" in Italian. I was told this means "Kid" in an endearing way.


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## giginho

Napoletaness said:


> Sal Tesio: My grandpop grew up with my grandmom in the Naples Italy area, and she was like a "kid" to him, so he always called her "viol" in Italian. I was told this means "Kid" in an endearing way.



"Viol" in Italian? Never heard about that, are you sure?


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## Napoletaness

Yes, I'm sure. "Viol" or "Viole" (not completely sure of the propper spelling) was some kind of slang for an endearing way of calling somebody "kid" from the Naples area 1800s. I'm the youngest daughter of his youngest son.


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## Paulfromitaly

Napoletaness said:


> Yes, I'm sure. "Viol" or "Viole" (not completely sure of the propper spelling) was some kind of slang for an endearing way of calling somebody "kid" from the Naples area 1800s. I'm the youngest daughter of his youngest son.


It's not Italian. It might be dialect.


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## giginho

Paulfromitaly said:


> It's not Italian. It might be dialect.



That's for sure


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## Napoletaness

Yes, maybe dialect. Since someone was looking for non-traditional ways to say "kid" I thought I would share what my grandfather called my grandmother. He called her "kid" because when he was growing up, his mother took her in and raised her after her mother died. They grew up in the same house and fell in love.


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## symposium

I think the best translation for kid is "ragazzino". It's older than a child but younger than a "ragazzo", a young man. It can also have a slightly derogatory nuance, but not necessarily. And it's standard Italian, not regional.


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## Napoletaness

Agree


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## gnommero

I think that 'ragazzo ' or 'ragazzino' covers also the meaning of kid. About 'viol', if it was from Veneto, it cloud be a misspelling for 'fiol' that means son, but I think that in Naples it was not used.


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## Napoletaness

Interesting, thanks for sharing. It's something to ponder.


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## Pietruzzo

Napoletaness said:


> Yes, I'm sure. "Viol" or "Viole" (not completely sure of the propper spelling) was some kind of slang for an endearing way of calling somebody "kid" from the Naples area 1800s. I'm the youngest daughter of his youngest son.


How is "viol" pronounced?


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## Napoletaness

It is pronounced "vi" and "ole" with the accent on the "ole"


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## pebblespebbles

symposium said:


> I think the best translation for kid is "ragazzino".


 I agree.


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## Odysseus54

And I don't - 'kid', at least in AE, covers from 'ragazzino/a' to 'ragazzo/a'.  As in Italian, to include persons considered to be generically 'young', or 'young', 'green' etc. relatively to the job at hand, the responsibility, or simply as compared to others.

Based on the context and what you want to express, you could call the same person a 'kid' or a 'young man/woman' - it's not based on age.  It can also mean 'children' (sons/daughters)

I also think that the OP was misleading when requesting a 'slang' term for what is not a slang term.

Some examples :

" High school kids "  (from 13 to 18)

" College kids " (from 18 to 22, or until they graduate)

" That tall guy over there is my kid - he's 35 "


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## theartichoke

Odysseus54 said:


> And I don't - 'kid', at least in AE, covers from 'ragazzino/a' to 'ragazzo/a'.



I'd say that "kid" can go much younger, too: "little kids" would be anywhere from about 1 to 6, and anyone from 6 to 13 is most definitely a kid. For me, it's simply the colloquial synonym for "child" up until the person is no longer an actual child, at which point I use it as you describe in #32.


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## Lollio222

sal tesio said:


> thank you I Kester.  I have been using the word for years and have never known how to spell it.  Grazie uaglio.



I was looking for this answer too... lol Who would have known it was spelt like that..!! Stefania


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## london calling

Paulfromitaly said:


> It's not Italian. It might be dialect.


Never heard Viol/Viole in Salerno or Naples. It sounds like a pet name: Violé, which here would be short for the name Violetta, which in turn could be a pet name for Viola (how confusing.). The same thing happens with other names here, for example  Giovanna - Giovannella - Giovanné.

PS. To me as a speaker of BE 'kids' is pretty much a slang term. I know others feel differently but I would never talk of a friend's or relative's children as 'kids', because 'kids' to me means the irritating variety (brats...)  and I would feel I was being rude. And I would certainly never say 'college kids' as they do in the US: they're young adults, not children.


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## Lollio222

london calling said:


> Never heard Viol/Viole in Salerno or Naples. It sounds like a pet name: Violé, which here would be short for the name Violetta, which in turn could be a pet name for Viola (how confusing.). The same thing happens with other names here, for example  Giovanna - Giovannella - Giovanné.
> 
> PS. To me as a speaker of BE 'kids' is pretty much a slang term. I know others feel differently but I would never talk of a friend's or relative's children as 'kids', because 'kids' to me means the irritating variety (brats...)  and I would feel I was being rude. And I would certainly never say 'college kids' as they do in the US: they're young adults, not children.




It definitely is Italian, perhaps a dialect from my father's region but he would say it to get someone's attention. It brought me back many memories of a better time but its spelling is definitely not how I thought it would be spelt and so that's how I found it on here. Someone else was asking as well..


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## metazoan

We have varied opinions on the age boundaries and tone of "kid". My feeling is that _kid_ really does match best to _ragazzino_ as @pebblespebbles suggests. @Odysseus54 noted the extended use in the US to describe teenagers, young adults, and one's children no matter how old. I believe that started facetiously, although it may have become less so since. @london calling senses a slight pejorative (equating with 'brat') in BE, but the tone when used in the US is fairly neutral.


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## Pietruzzo

Lollio222 said:


> london calling said:
> 
> 
> 
> Never heard Viol/Viole in Salerno or Naples.
> 
> 
> 
> It definitely is Italian, perhaps a dialect from my father's region
Click to expand...

 I'm not sure whether you are talking about "uagliò", as in your previous post, or about  this mysterious alleged neapolitan word "viol". Unless you think they are the same thing, which would add confusion. In any case "uagliò" could be used only with male "kids".


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## pebblespebbles

Hi, I think "viol" comes from a word like "figlio"("figliolo" is a toscano version for kid), were  "f" becomes "v" and "gli" is contracted. I heart it few times a long time ago...


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## london calling

pebblespebbles said:


> Hi, I think "viol" comes from a word like "figlio"("figliolo" is a toscano version for kid), were  "f" becomes "v" and "gli" is contracted. I heart it few times a long time ago...


But we're not talking about Tuscany. 'F's don't become 'v's in dialects in Campania and 'figliolo' is not a word they use much round here.


Pietruzzo said:


> In any case "uagliò" could be used only with male "kids".



"Uagliò" can be singular or plural: it is used to address a mixed group (male and female). The femmine singular is however 'uagliona', you're right.


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## pebblespebbles

london calling said:


> 'F's don't become 'v's in dialects in Campania and 'figliolo' is not a word they use much round here.


 
"Viol" is not from Campania.


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## Tellure

london calling said:


> But we're not talking about Tuscany. 'F's don't become 'v's in dialects in Campania and 'figliolo' is not a word they use much round here.
> 
> 
> "Uagliò" can be singular or plural: it is used to address a mixed group (male and female). The femmine singular is however 'uagliona', you're right.


Per il plurale, anche "guagliun". Quoto valy822 (post #10) da una vecchia discussione:

We use the word _guagliun_ when we need the plural form. It means _boys_/_guys_, a group of people where both boys and girls are included.
Guaglione / guagliò


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## london calling

Tellure said:


> Per il plurale, anche "guagliun". Quoto valy822 (post #10) da una vecchia discussione:
> 
> We use the word _guagliun_ when we need the plural form. It means _boys_/_guys_, a group of people where both boys and girls are included.
> Guaglione / guagliò


I work in Naples and as I think you know I've been here for nearly 40 years. Apart from the fact that my husband was local (he hardly ever spoke dialect but he loved ' il neapolitano classico') I have a great deal of contact with the Neapolitan dialect where I work and have had to learn to understand it because they nearly all use it (some very little, others all the time). So, from my daily experience, they use _uagliò_ in both the single and the plural when calling someone (Ehi uagliò!), _i uaglion_ when referring to a mixed group of young people (i uaglion stann' abbasc' 'o reparto) and _'e guaglion_ if they're only talking about girls. In the singular _'nu uaglion_ is a boy and _'na uaglion_ is a girl. 'Kids' for sure in AE, as we're talking about young adults. I wouldn't call them that in English but that's probably just me being old-fashioned:  'kids' means children/young teenagers to me.

Pardon my spelling, by the way.


pebblespebbles said:


> "Viol" is not from Campania.


I know that and said that but the OP said it was used in Naples in the 18th century so Tuscan dialects have nothing to do with it, especially as _figliolo_ or any version of that used to mean a young person would be very unlikely in this part of the world and so 'Viol/Violé' = _figliolo_ seems highly improbable.  As to what 'Violé' could mean in Naples today I have already said what I thought in a previous post.

All that said I obviously have no idea if 'Viol/Violé' meant something different in the 18th century in Naples.

OT. The other day I was talking to one of our IT people about an issue I was having with my PC. It was fine until I had to ask him to repeat a couple of things I hadn't understood - he burst out laughing and said "Ma come, ti parlo in napoletano e mi capisci perfettamente ma quando ti parlo in  inglese nun capisc manc 'na parola!"


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## Tellure

london calling said:


> I work in Naples and as I think you know I've been here for nearly 40 years. Apart from the fact that my husband was local (he hardly ever spoke dialect but he loved ' ) I have a great deal of contact with the Neapolitan dialect where I work and have had to learn to understand it because they nearly all use it (some very little, others all the time). So, from my daily experience, they use _uagliò_ in both the single and the plural when calling someone (Ehi uagliò!), _i uaglion_ when referring to a mixed group of young people (i uaglion stann' abbasc' 'o reparto) and _'e guaglion_ if they're only talking about girls. In the singular _'nu uaglion_ is a boy and _'na uaglion_ is a girl. 'Kids' for sure in AE, as we're talking about young adults. I wouldn't call them that in English but that's probably just me being old-fashioned:  'kids' means children/young teenagers to me.
> 
> Pardon my spelling, by the way.


Sono assolutamente d'accordo. 
Ho voluto precisare che "guagliun" è *anche *usato per il plurale solo perché mi sembrava di averlo sentito in una canzone di Pino Daniele.

P.S. Anche in un testo di Rocco Hunt:
"Wake up guagliù, scetateve che l’aria è doce"
lastampa.it


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## pebblespebbles

Napoletaness said:


> Yes, I'm sure. "Viol" or "Viole" (not completely sure of the propper spelling)





gnommero said:


> About 'viol', if it was from Veneto, it cloud be a misspelling for 'fiol' that means son, but I think that in Naples it was not used.


In central-nord Italy there is few dialects using "fiol/fiole't" or similar,  in some region/area "f" sounds like "v" , sometimes it turns into a "v". (Figlio/figlioletto). It could be the family was in Naples but originally from another region.


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## london calling

pebblespebbles said:


> In central-nord Italy there is few dialects using "fiol/fiole't" or similar,  in some region/area "f" sounds like "v" , sometimes it turns into a "v". (Figlio/figlioletto). It could be the family was in Naples but originally from another region.


Thanks for that, but:



Napoletaness said:


> Sal Tesio: *My grandpop grew up with my grandmom in the Naples Italy area*, and she was like a "kid" to him, so he always called her "viol" in Italian. I was told this means "Kid" in an endearing way.


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## Odysseus54

pebblespebbles said:


> In central-nord Italy there is few dialects using "fiol/fiole't" or similar,  in some region/area "f" sounds like "v" , sometimes it turns into a "v". (Figlio/figlioletto). It could be the family was in Naples but originally from another region.




Questa lenizione dall' 'f' alla 'v' mi interessa.  Hai qualche esempio ? Dove avviene ?


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## pebblespebbles

Odysseus54 said:


> Questa lenizione dall' 'f' alla 'v' mi interessa.  Hai qualche esempio ? Dove avviene ?



Sto cercando di ricordare dove potrei averlo sentito mi viene in mente, una famiglia di amici di origini genovesi della mia infanzia(non so assolutamente il dialetto genovese, e' solo una ipotesi ), o, piu' probabilmente uno dei tanti dialetti tra Rimini-Urbino dove avevo degli amici. E che probabilmente conosci molto meglio di me. Non penso che si scriva con la "v", ma che suoni come una "v"... "F/violet" , tanto che sulle prime pensavo stessero dicendo appunto, "Violetta". E , per contestualizzare, "viole'/viol" dell' ultimo OP e' molto piu' vicino ad un "fiol" centro-nordico, che ad un "uaglio'" napoletano...mi pare.


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## Odysseus54

Controllo domani - vedo uno che e' appunto del Montefeltro.  Da noi, in certe zone, e' normale l'alternanza b/v - 'bardascio/vardascio', ma f/v non mi pare di averla mai notata.


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## pebblespebbles

Esatto, erano del Montefeltro. Non saprei fare altri esempi f/v, solo "fiol" che suonava come un "viol",  non so se sia una ricorrenza della lingua dialettale.


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## A User

Tellure said:


> Ho voluto precisare che "guagliun" è *anche *usato per il plurale solo perché mi sembrava di averlo sentito in una canzone


_Scetáteve, guagliunǝ 'e malavita_...(Guapparia 1914)
Un'interessante variante, da WPedia, in un altro dialetto meridionale:


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## Napoletaness

Yes, I started the conversation about Viol. Actually, my grandpop and his wife were from Casaluce, which I believe it outside of Naples. So, I asked my cousin to ask her father if he remembers what he used to call her. He is almost 100 years old, but very active and good memory. He said grandpop used to call her "Viol" and he thinks it means "babe" ... so the meaning is very close to "kid" which is what I was told it means when I was little. I don't know where this word originated, but maybe pebblespebbles was right when they said it could have actually been fiol with an "F" and only sounds like a "V". What a mystery.


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## Napoletaness

Pietruzzo said:


> How is "viol" pronounced?


I'll bet you are right. So I googled "fiol" and it says it means "son" or "Young boy". Then I wondered, why in the world would my grandpop call my grandmom "fiol" or "son" or "young boy"? Could it also mean "Young lady"?


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## Lilith_Ecate

Napoletaness said:


> I googled "fiol" and it says it means "son" or "Young boy". [...] Could it also mean "Young lady"?



In my region (north of Italy), "fiol" is a commonly used dialectal form for "kid". The feminine form is "fiòla".

(And in my instinctive pronunciation of these words the initial /f/ is very similar to a /v/).

Maybe the phonetic process is similar to what happened with "phial" and "vial", two different forms of the same word.


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## Napoletaness

The mystery is solved. It's not "Viol" it's "FeeYule", only I don't know the proper spelling. Here is a note from my friend Diana: "I just remembered that some people, especially from the Naples area, would use a dialect word "FEE YUL" (phonetic spelling) as a term of endearment for a little one. (smiliar to "kid")


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## Napoletaness

Lilith_Ecate said:


> In my region (north of Italy), "fiol" is a commonly used dialectal form for "kid". The feminine form is "fiòla".
> 
> (And in my instinctive pronunciation of these words the initial /f/ is very similar to a /v/).
> 
> Maybe the phonetic process is similar to what happened with "phial" and "vial", two different forms of the same word.


Thank you! Is Fiola Italian?


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## Napoletaness

Lilith_Ecate said:


> In my region (north of Italy), "fiol" is a commonly used dialectal form for "kid". The feminine form is "fiòla".
> 
> (And in my instinctive pronunciation of these words the initial /f/ is very similar to a /v/).
> 
> Maybe the phonetic process is similar to what happened with "phial" and "vial", two different forms of the same word.


The more I think about this, the more it makes sense. Although my grandpop was from the Naples area, his surname indicates that in ancient times his people came from "Gaul" which is north of Italy, where you are from. Thank you for solving the mystery! He must have been calling her "Fiola", as I was told the word he used meant "kid". That word must have passed down to him from generations ago.


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## Odysseus54

Napoletaness said:


> The more I think about this, the more it makes sense. Although my grandpop was from the Naples area, his surname indicates that in ancient times his people came from "Gaul" which is north of Italy, where you are from. Thank you for solving the mystery! He must have been calling her "Fiola", as I was told the word he used meant "kid". That word must have passed down to him from generations ago.



Very unlikely, in my opinon.  You may inherit blue eyes or the hair color from your ancestors, but after the first generation you learn to speak from your contemporaries, unless elements of the language of an immigrant element become part of the local dialect (e.g. 'chutzpah', 'paisano' etc.).


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## Lilith_Ecate

Napoletaness said:


> Thank you! Is Fiola Italian?



No, "fiola" is not an Italian word, but just a dialectal one. You can't find it in the dictionary.

Yet, "figliola" is a proper official commonly-used Italian word (therefore, this hypothesis could be valid regardless of the region): as @pebblespebbles  said, it is the diminutive form of "figlia" ("daughter"), but  it is used outside parental and family context as well, with a wider meaning of "young girl". The pronunciation of the /gl/ phonetical group may vary. Some (even in the Naples area, as far as I know) pronounce /gl/ in a very "light" way, almost indistinguishable from a /y/ (as in the French word "fille", "girl").


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