r/Italian

Hi everyone! I visit Italy quite often, as it’s one of my favourite countries to travel to, and I’m also learning Italian.
There’s something I’ve been curious about for ages. Whenever I visit Italy, I notice a very distinctive smell that I rarely, if ever, smell anywhere else. I’ve noticed it in apartments, houses and sometimes on people themselves. It’s a lovely floral scent with a hint of lemon or citrus, almost like a fresh, clean perfume.
At first, I thought it might be a particular air freshener, fabric softener, cleaning product or body spray that people commonly use in Italy. But I’ve noticed it in so many different places, from northern Italy all the way down south, including the islands. It seems surprisingly consistent!
I’ve even asked a few Italian friends about it, but nobody has been able to identify what I mean.
Does anyone have any idea what this smell could be? Is there a particular Italian home fragrance, detergent, perfume or cleaning product that’s really popular across the country?
I know this is a bit of a random question, but I’m genuinely fascinated by it. 😂🇮🇹🍋

We see OE, middle English, and modern English, but in Italy their language was called Latin, and now it's called Italian. Is there some time of rapid change that historians generally agree upon that separates Latin from Italian? Why isn't italian looked at as "modern latin" like English is looked at as modern English?

I’ve been learning Italian for a while and I’d love to discover more Italian music to help me immerse myself in the language.

I listen to all kinds of music so genre doesn’t matter at all. I’m open to anything!!

what are your favorite Italian songs or artists? I’d love to hear your recommendations.

edit: I’m checking out all the songs you recommended and I have to say that you guys have great taste in music plus I didn’t know Italian music was this amazing!!!

Does anyone else feel like being a brown guy in italy makes dating almost impossible no matter what you do?

I’m a 23-year-old university student, well-presented, and I take good care of myself. But the racial bias shows up step by step every time I try to put myself out there:

Step 1: The App/Online Drop-off. You can have an amazing chat with a girl online where she clearly likes your personality, but as soon as your ethnicity becomes clear, the chat dies instantly. Being ghosted or blocked the moment they see you're brown happens constantly.

Step 2: The In-Person Rejection. When approaching girls at campus or casual spots, there's zero openness. The second you say hello, you get met with instant coldness and distant responses, like you're bothering them just by trying to speak.

Step 3: The Suspicion at Social Events. Going out with a group of brown friends to a club or party means facing immediate judgment. Before you even open your mouth, people give you defensive, suspicious looks—as if they assume you are there to cause trouble or steal things.

It really sucks being treated like an outsider online and a threat in person. Have any other guys in Italy or Europe experienced this exact same thing, and how do you handle it?

I was born in italy and italian was my second “native” language.I moved to my actual native country at 6 ,and since then i can’t speak italian.I suppose it’s from the lack of speaking it.The annoying thing is that i can understand it,but i can’t talk it.I know i know it,but it’s like my mind and tongue are paralysed even though i know the language. It feels awful. I can even speak a little(but very poorly)if i watch a few videos in italian.

How fast do you guys think i could relearn italian?I‘m in 12th grade and thinking of going to university in Bologna,where i was born. My only concern is that i won’t be able to remember the language as fast as i want to:(

Ciao, volevo chiedere a qualcun che ha esperienze lavorative in supermercati. Come vengono gestiti gli sprechi a fine serata? Viene applicato lo sconto < happy hour> a tutti i prodotti deperibili rimanenti oppure vengono gettati via?