Italian Memes Explained #1

In this new series, I’ll share a few Italian memes and explain their linguistic and cultural background.

Trigger warning: Some of these may be considered offensive by certain readers.

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The main text says:

360 B.C. — Aphrodite hits her son with a slipper.

This attitude is thankfully changing with newer generations, but those of us who grew up in Italy in the 1980s and earlier know how the slipper (or sandal) was a common “educational” tool used by our mothers.

This meme was posted by Commenti Memorabili (Memorable Comments), a Facebook group and website dedicated to highlighting the funniest comments under memes.

The highlighted comment, by Valentina Donia, reads:

By the way, her son was Eros, the god of love — I would’ve hit him too.

With this joke, she implies her lack of success in romantic endeavors. 😂

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I actually created the next meme, which became somewhat popular on Facebook. The caption reads:

You should never go to a Coldplay concert, Andy.

The scene is a screenshot from the movie Amici Miei – Atto II (My Friends, Act 2), in which a group of childish friends pull pranks for fun. In this particular scene, the prank targets a widower named Paolo.

Il professor Sassaroli (played by Adolfo Celi) approaches him and misleads him into believing he had an affair with Paolo’s late wife. When the widower asks when the affair took place — and whether it was while he was taking a course in Germany — il professor Sassaroli replies:

Non si deve mai andare in Germania, Paolo.
(You should never go to Germany, Paolo.)

This infuriates the widower, who believes the claim and ends up cursing his late wife. You can see the original scene below.

The quote is well-known among fans of Italian comedies from the 1970s and 80s. In my meme, I adapted it to reference the scandal involving Ex-Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, who cheated on his wife at a Coldplay concert.

The keenest observers will notice that I used “non bisogna” instead of “non si deve.” This was a slight misquote, but from an Italian perspective, the two are interchangeable, and both mean “you should not.”

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The third meme needs little translation. The only cultural note is about the two men pictured above Dr. Now: they are Romano Prodi (a former Prime Minister of Italy) and Al Bano (a famous singer from Puglia).

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Let me know whether this series strikes you as fun and interesting, or just a little too silly.