Cheeky

cheeky – aggettivo

 

Me and my friends went for a few cheeky pints and ended up staying for hours.

They used to sneak over to the pub for a cheeky drink when they should have been working.

Having a cheeky bet on the race makes it much more exciting.

You may be in the mood for a cheeky weekend away.

I was at lunch with American journalist Zoë Henry, who’d asked with utmost sincerity the true meaning of a “Cheeky Nando’s”.

 

Molti di voi saranno senz’altro a conoscenza del significato di cheeky in espressioni tipo a cheeky smile, a cheeky wink o a cheeky grin oppure cheeky monkey, cheeky sod o cheeky chap. Ma cos’è a cheeky pint? Chiaramente non sarà una birra birichina o che vi manca di rispetto… In effetti non è la pinta in sé a essere cheeky, ma il contesto in cui si consuma suddetta birra. Il cheeky drink è un peccatuccio, un bicchiere con amici fuori programma, tanto più inatteso quanto più gradito. Dunque i piaceri definiti cheeky sono frutto della spontaneità e dell’amicizia, e di queste non ce n’è mai abbastanza.

 

Origini del termine

 

Cheeky deriva dalla parola cheek nel senso di insolence e con questo significato è in uso da parecchio tempo. Nel 2015 però il termine ha conosciuto un breve momento di gloria inaspettata quando sui social gli utenti americani chiedevano perplessi cosa fosse a cheeky Nando’s solo per sentirsi offrire risposte improbabili dai loro cugini d’oltreoceano.

cheeky – adjective

Me and my friends went for a few cheeky pints and ended up staying for hours.

They used to sneak over to the pub for a cheeky drink when they should have been working.

Having a cheeky bet on the race makes it much more exciting.

You may be in the mood for a cheeky weekend away.

I was at lunch with American journalist Zoë Henry, who’d asked with utmost sincerity the true meaning of a “Cheeky Nando’s”.

 

You are doubtless familiar with the meanings of cheeky that are conveyed by a cheeky smile, wink or grin, or by calling someone a cheeky monkey, sod or chap. But how about a cheeky pint? Obviously it’s not a pint that answers you back or behaves disrespectfully; indeed it’s not the pint itself that is cheeky. Instead the adjective refers to the context in which the pint is drunk. A cheeky drink is one that is enjoyed with friends but unplanned or unexpected, the result of impulse rather than a planned outing. Cheeky pleasures are all about spontaneity and friendship; and we can all use a bit more of those.

 

 

Origins

Cheeky comes from cheek meaning insolence. Although this use of cheeky has been around for quite some time, it came to wider prominence in 2015 when social media sites were briefly full of baffled Americans asking what the hell a cheeky Nando’s was and British users giving obligingly opaque explanations.

 

WordWatch è l'osservatorio sui neologismi della lingua inglese curato dalla redazione del dizionario Ragazzini.

A cura di Liz Potter