Who in recent months has not heard of overtourism? It is this word that is now used to define “overcrowding caused by an excessive influx of tourists in a locality”, as the tourists in Barcelona who were shot at with water pistols by some annoyed residents well know.
“Overtourism”, along with “catfishing” and “maranza”, among others, is also one of the new words added in the 2025 digital update of the Zingarelli Dictionary, published by Zanichelli. If “catfishing” is a relatively new lemma, known to those who frequent social networks, and indicates the attempt to fool someone by stealing an online identity, “maranza” is a term already used in the 1980s, indicating young people who share and flaunt street attitudes, particular musical tastes, flashy clothing and accessories and often vulgar language.
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Other terms such as “hype” and “bubble tea” (a drink of Asian origin) have also earned a place in the pages of the new Zingarelli. In the choice of these words, Zanichelli explained, “a greater attention to a more inclusive terminology stands out, for a more complete awareness of reality”.
For the Accademia della Crusca, one of the effects of overtourism, “touristisation”, is worthy of inclusion in the list of new words in current use. In the additions made from February to May 2024, there are also terms such as “agrivoltaic” and “degenerate”, which respectively indicate “a system that allows the use of land for agricultural activity and for the production of energy through panels” and a “change for the worse, great confusion, uncontrolled revelry”.
For its part, the Sabatini Coletti Italian Dictionary (Hoepli) also attempts to keep up with the complexity of the present by inserting some new terms such as “quiet quitting” (the act of doing only the bare minimum at work) and its opposite derivation, the “hustle culture”, literally the (work) culture of effort.
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Another of the most famous Italian vocabularies, the Devoto-Oli, has set itself the goal of “capturing the nuances of a changing society” and finding the terms with which to “tell and build our future”. It has done so by updating its headwords with various terms from youthful slang, from “bestie”, meaning best friend, to artificial intelligence with “ChatGPT”, or taken from current affairs: this is the case with “K-Pop” and “kombucha”, products of the increasingly influential Oriental culture. Then there are the additions due to the international political scenario such as “gazawi”, the inhabitant of Gaza.
Illustration by Gloria Dozio - Acrimònia Studios
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