Italian · At the Match
Forza!
FOR-tsah · /ˈfor.tsa/
Come on! / Let's go! / Go [team]!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"Strength / force"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
The rallying cry — "Forza Italia!", "Forza Napoli!", "forza ragazzi!" (come on, guys). Clean and universal, on the pitch and off it (encouraging anyone who's struggling). Also a standalone "come on, you can do it." No offense anywhere.
Heard in the wild
Forza ragazzi, mancano dieci minuti!
Come on lads, ten minutes to go!
Where it lands
Universal across Italy
Quick answers
- What does "Forza!" mean?
- In Italian, "Forza!" means "Come on! / Let's go! / Go [team]!". Literally it's "Strength / force". The rallying cry — "Forza Italia!", "Forza Napoli!", "forza ragazzi!" (come on, guys). Clean and universal, on the pitch and off it (encouraging anyone who's struggling). Also a standalone "come on, you can do it." No offense anywhere.
- Is "Forza!" 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 "Forza!"?
- Say it "FOR-tsah" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈfor.tsa.
Related in Italian
Dai! DYE Come on! / Come off it! / Please! Rigore! ree-GO-ray Penalty! (screamed appeal) Arbitro cornuto! AR-bee-tro kor-NOO-to You cheating cuckold of a ref! Arbitro venduto! AR-bee-tro ven-DOO-to The ref's been bought! / Bent referee! Grande! GRAHN-day Nice one! / You legend! / Way to go! Spacchi! SPAHK-kee You rock! / You're killing it!
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.