Italian Text and Internet Slang: 75 Terms

Texting or chatting with native Italian speakers is a great way to practice your language skills.

You get to use your new vocabulary and informal phrases without the pressure of speaking in person, but you might be caught off guard by some Italian text or internet slang that you haven’t seen in your textbook or even on a language learning app. 

Discover over 75 Italian slang terms and abbreviations that native Italians use when chatting online or by text. No matter what level you’re at, this guide will be useful for your future Italian communications.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

The Letter “K”

While the letter “k” isn’t in the Italian alphabet, the Italians still make use of its presence on their keyboard. In these slang words, it indicates the same sound as it has in English.

It replaces the more complex “h” that Italian spelling rules sometimes require between the “c” and the vowel ( ca, co, che, chi, cu ).

The Letters “C” and “Q”

The “c” is called ci  (with a hard “ch” sound) and can thus be used by itself.

You’ve probably already noticed from these examples that vowels tend to get eliminated in internet chat spellings. This is especially true of the letter “u” after a “q.”

The Letter “X” 

One potentially confusing very common abbreviation is “x” for per (for, by, etc.). To understand why, you need to see how per is used in math:

5 x 4=20 (said as: cinque per quattro fa venti )

You can thus use “x” anywhere you would use per, as well as in these bigger words that contain the letters per together:

It helps to see that last one in a larger context:

Sarò da te +-x le 4 — Sarò da te più o meno per le 4. — I’ll be at your place at about 4:00.

Other Common Abbreviations Used in Italian Texting

This series of abbreviations doesn’t follow any particular rules except that they tend to eliminate vowels:

Another common occurrence in Italian text slang is removing the final vowel from direct object pronouns. Here are some examples:

•  m — mi — me (For example, m hai detto instead of mi hai detto  for “you told me.”)
• t l faccio vedere io — Te la faccio vedere io!  — I’ll show you! (menacing)

Italian Text Slang for Expressing Your Feelings

You’ll notice lots of dropped vowels occur in these very common expressions of affection:

Reactions, Emojis and Symbols for Italian Texting

While the following aren’t necessarily universal to all languages, they’re common to both English and Italian. You should feel free to use them and know that your Italian friends will understand.

• Laughing (risate): lol, haha, hahaha, hehehe/hihihi 

• Emojis and symbols such as:
  • :) — the smile (il sorriso) or smiley face (faccia sorridente)
  • ;) — The wink, known in Italian as strizzare l’occhio, fare l’occhiolino or fare l’occhietto. Note that Italians wink in conversation much more than English speakers do as a signal of common understanding, and not simply for flirting.
  • Xoxoxoxo, :* or :*** — kisses (baci)

One expression with a slightly different meaning between Italian and English is raising both eyebrows. As an English speaker, you might think of this as an expression of surprise. But for Italians, it often indicates superiority or that someone seems to have come out on top in a particular story. 

You may see it online or in a text as two caret symbols: 

• ^^ — alzare le sopracciglia — to raise the eyebrows

With this Italian text slang, you’ll be able to follow along wherever you’re communicating in the digital world. 

If you’re also interested in learning some Italian slang words and phrases to use in conversations, you could try using FluentU to hear Italian slang used in context.

Are you ready to chat like a bimbominkia? 

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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