What does “Fare le ore piccole” mean?
Fare le ore piccole
Word for word
To do the small hours
What it really means
To stay up until the early morning. The "small hours" are one, two, three o'clock — the low numbers on the clock.
How we say it in English
To stay up into the small hours — English uses the very same phrase for those hours
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Toccare ferro
To knock on wood — but note Italians reach for iron, not wood
Acqua in bocca!
Mum's the word! — or keep it under your hat
Cercare il pelo nell'uovo
To split hairs — English lands on the same hair, from the other direction
Chi dorme non piglia pesci
The early bird catches the worm
Fare il finto tonto
To play dumb
In bocca al lupo
Break a leg — and, like "break a leg", you never answer with "thank you"