Apart from its massively dominant importance in the world of music, where
directions for form and expression are customarily written in Italian
(concerto, allegro, andante, rubato, etc.) and, more recently, the
shallower domains of popular movies, TV and best-selling novels, which
have given us a host of Mafia-derived terms, the contribution of the
language of Dante to English is far more useful and subtle than many of
us may realize. Whether the subject is philosophy, politics, diplomacy,
religion, sport, or even chess, we may thank the Italians for having
coined the just-right words we lacked in English until they came along
to help us out. Like their wonderful food -- there's another word-subject
for you -- we have merrily gobbled these words up and incorporated them as
our own, as English always does. This week's theme thanks the Italians for
helping up express ourselves more colorfully and precisely. Maybe we should
put that in italics. -Rudolph Chelminski (RudyChelminski@compuserve.com)

(This week's Guest Wordsmith, Rudy, is an American freelance writer who
lives in France. He is the author of many books and regularly contributes
to Reader's Digest, Smithsonian and other publications. -Anu)