If you're planning to visit - or even settle down in - the Italian capital, you'll likely want to blend in as much as possible. But phrasebook Italian isn't going to cut it in the cobbled streets and crowded bars of Rome. To really impress, try learning a bit of the local lingo. The Roman dialect was being singled out by poet Dante as the ugliest in all of Italy.

The writer said it wasn't worthy of being described as a 'vulgar tongue' but was merely 'profanity'. In fact, some people call the dialect 'Romanaccio' (instead of the more formal 'Romanesco'), with the suffix 'accio' carrying negative connotations (a 'giornataccia' for example is 'a terrible day').