Italian · Joy & Hype
Alla grande!
AHL-lah GRAHN-day · /ˈal.la ˈɡran.de/
Going great! / Living large!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"In the big (style)"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
The upbeat answer to "come va?" — "alla grande!" means things are going brilliantly, no notes. Also "in style": "festeggiare alla grande" is to celebrate big. Clean, confident, everyday.
Heard in the wild
Come stai? Alla grande!
How are you? Living the dream!
Where it lands
Universal across Italy
Quick answers
- What does "Alla grande!" mean?
- In Italian, "Alla grande!" means "Going great! / Living large!". Literally it's "In the big (style)". The upbeat answer to "come va?" — "alla grande!" means things are going brilliantly, no notes. Also "in style": "festeggiare alla grande" is to celebrate big. Clean, confident, everyday.
- Is "Alla grande!" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
- How do you pronounce "Alla grande!"?
- Say it "AHL-lah GRAHN-day" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈal.la ˈɡran.de.
Related in Italian
Grande! GRAHN-day Nice one! / You legend! / Way to go! Spacchi! SPAHK-kee You rock! / You're killing it! Che goduria! kay go-DOO-ryah Sheer bliss! / So satisfying! Figo! FEE-go Cool! / Awesome! / Sick! Che figata! kay fee-GAH-tah How awesome! / So cool! Da paura! dah pah-OO-rah Awesome! / Insanely good!
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Hell yes".
- French Ça déchire ! That rocks! / That's awesome!
- German Geil! Awesome! / Sick! / Hell yes!
- Greek ώπα Oops! / Hey, watch it! / Let's go! — NOT mainly the plate-smashing tourist cheer.
- Japanese やった Yes! / I did it! / We won!
- Korean 아싸! Yes! / score! — the fist-pump syllables.
- Polish zajebisty Fucking awesome / badass — the great slang-POSITIVE of the jebać family.
- Portuguese Que massa! How cool! / Awesome!
- Russian Офигенно! Freaking awesome! / Amazing!
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.