It’s time to interpret yet another of those intriguing gestures that we Italians use, and today I’m going to look at one that my uncle Luciano, who is originally from Rome, uses a lot. But before I describe the gesture I need to give you a bit of background information.

Fregarsene

The verb fregarsene means to ‘not give a damn about something’. Let’s say that it is a ‘stronger’ way of saying ‘non mi importa’ (‘it doesn’t matter to me’, or ‘I don’t care’). We even have the typically Italian term ‘menefreghismo’ (‘not to give a damnism’)

The construction of this verb is a little bit confusing, especially as there are two different ways of using it. Here is how it works:

Variation 1.

me ne frego – I don’t give a damn

te ne freghi – you (informal) don’t give a damn

se ne frega – he/she doesn’t give a damn

ce ne freghiamo – we don’t give a damn

ve ne fregate – you (plural) don’t give a damn

se ne fregano – they don’t give a damn

Notice that because it is me or you who is ‘not giving a damn’ the ending of the verb fregare changes accordingly, i.e. io frego,  tu freghi, noi freghiamo etc.

Variation 2.

non me ne frega niente – it doesn’t bother me at all

non te ne frega niente -  it doesn’t bother you (singular informal) at all

non gliene frega niente – it doesn’t bother him/her at all

non ce ne frega niente – it doesn’t bother us at all

non ve ne frega niente – it doesn’t bother you (plural) at all

non gliene frega niente – it doesn’t bother them at all

Warning: you may need to read this next sentence a couple of times before it makes sense!

In this variant, because it is not me that is ‘not bothering’ or ‘giving a damn’ but someone/something else that ‘doesn’t bother me’ fregare is only used in the third person singular (frega), even when the thing that doesn’t bother me is plural, e.g ‘non me ne frega niente di quelle vecchie scarpe, buttale via!’ (I don’t give a damn about those old shoes, throw them away!).

We also say: ‘cosa me ne frega’ (what do I care), ‘cosa te ne frega’ (what do you care) etc.

Il gesto (the gesture):

1. lift your chin as if making a gesture of disdain.

2. imagine that an annoying fly has just landed under you chin and, raising your hand with the palm towards your body, use the backs of you finger tips and nails to brush the fly away with an outward sweeping motion (ladies with long nails or men with bushy beards please take care when practicing this gesture).

This definitely works best if you think to yourself whilst practicing: ‘huh, what a load of rubbish’,  ‘who cares!’, or best of all ‘me ne frego!’

Divertitevi!