piacere

piacere

noun: pleasure, favor
verb: to please, to be pleasing

“Piacere,” Italians say when introduced, and the very sound evokes a tantalizing sense of delights to come. As he pronounces each syllable, an Italian man may clasp a woman’s fingers and pull them close to (but not touching) his lips. This chivalrous gesture, however quaint, never fails to charm me.

As a literary term, piacere dates back to the Middle Ages and the “sweet new style” (dolce stil nuovo) of the first poets –Dante foremost among them—who wrote in vernacular Italian rather than traditional Latin. Italians still take time and make space for pleasure in their daily lives. And they know well both what is to their liking and how to ask for it.

English-speakers declare “I like it” when they see, hear, or taste something that elicits their approval. Rather than such a blunt opinion, Italians register appreciation indirectly with the phrase “mi piace” (it is pleasing to me), words that capture the seductive, subjective nature of pleasure.

I learned the importance of choosing the right phrase to ask for a preferred pleasure years ago from a Venetian gentleman who chided me for using the word voglio (I want) in a simple request. “Voglio is for babies, shaking their hands and crying,” he said.

Vorrei—the conditional form, “I would want” or “I’d like”—functions well when buying a train ticket or ordering lunch. However, grander requests—a balcony seat overlooking the altar at Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square, for instance, or a sunset spin around the isle of Ponza (in the photo above)—require language of a higher level.

“To get what you want, you must ask like a principessa,” my self-appointed Venetian tutor insisted. And so he taught me the elegant conditional form mi piacerebbe. (It would be pleasing to me). In Italy these gracious words conjure up a magic more potent than “Open Sesame!” Whenever I unfurl them as a preface to what I would like, no one ever says no.

Expressions and Sayings

a piacere -- as much as one likes
per piacere! -- please!
piacere [di conoscerla]! -- pleased to meet you!
con piacere -- with pleasure
fare un piacere a qualcuno -- do somebody a favor
mi farebbe piacere – I’d be pleased to (literally it would give me pleasure)