You know when you learn a new language and the teacher always warns you about ‘false friends?’ You know, those tricky words in the language you are learning that resemble or sound like a word in English, but they do not mean the same thing at all. For example, the Italian word fabbrica: you would think it means fabric in English, but actually it means a factory. Fabric in Italian is tessuto.
Well forget all that for now, because today’s word of the day is exactly what it sounds like. That is, unless you think arrangiare sounds like ‘orange,’ and the word means ‘to orange,’ it’s pretty obvious what it means…
Arrangiare is to arrange. Or in other words, to organize, to put into order. [I’m sure Italians hate this but…] Arrangiare comes from the French word, arranger, meaning to organize or to settle.
Example:
‘Ha arrangiato la camera prima che arrivasse la mamma.’ – He put his room in order before his mommy arrived.
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It’s mostly used in the reflexive form “arrangiarsi”, as in “to cope, to find a way (without help)”: Se non trovo il necessario, mi arrangio. Devo arrangiarmi a cucinare. Etc etc. “Arrangiarsi da solo” is a bit redundant but accepted in conversation.
It’s what gives meaning to the popular concept “l’arte di arrangiarsi”, i.e. the art of making do with what little you have, something Italians (think they) excel at.