“Parla come mangi!” (speak as you eat!) is a common way to invite someone to speak in a simple manner and without using too many words. But do Italians really speak as they eat? Considering that we love our food, and that when people dare criticizing it, they really hit our Achilles’heel, the answer is yes: the way Italians speak is very refined and it does reflect our way of eating: all but frugal!

The Italian language is rich of sophisticated, yet frequently used expressions, of which we often ignore the cultural origin. Let's start with the very popular "Achilles heel" that I have just used. This mythological expression, present also in other languages,  hides a very special connection with Italy and echoes a very far past: the Trojans, rivals of the Achaeans in the Homeric poem the Iliad, led by Aeneas, reached Italy where they settled in.