cavolo riscaldato

Italian

Etymology

The "relationship" sense originated in proverbial sayings that directly compared such love to reheated cabbage (e.g. the rhyming amore ritornato e cavolo riscaldato, non fu nai buono (resumed love and reheated cabbage are not good)), which are attested since at least the 16th-century writings of Giulio Cesare Croce.

Noun

cavolo riscaldato m (plural cavoli riscaldati)

  1. (literally) reheated cabbage
  2. something old, outdated or obsolete displayed as if it were new
  3. (especially in the plural) a (doomed) attempt to reignite a failed relationship

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.