Family Lyrics

Families are known to be very close in Italy and often live in each other's pockets. Here are some of the words and phrases you might well come across.
Papi or Paparino (*) A diminutive of papa used by children or used jokingly by 'older' children when they want something from their father. Mami or Mammina (*) Diminutive of mamma. Same use as papi when dealing with mother. I miei (*) Lit. Mine, short for I miei genitori or I miei familiari, my parents or my family. Mio frate/Mia sora (*) Short for mio fratello, my brother, and mia sorella, my sister. Il mio moroso/La mia morosa (**) My boyfriend/My girlfriend. Suocera Mother-in-law. Used also to indicate someone annoying, nagging: Non fare la suocera (**) Don't be such a mother-in-law. Il mio ex/La mia ex (*) My ex (often referred to as il b______o!) I parenti The relatives. There's a rather unpleasant rhyme that says: Parenti serpenti (**) Relatives are snakes.