The 2002 version of the authoritative Zingarelli dictionary is about 500 words richer than before–including loads of new expressions taken from English. A fan of live Internet conversations can now officially say “chattare,” while the person next to you on the train hunched over the cell phone typing an SMS is sending a “messaggino.” And the next time you’re in Italy remember you can now, with an appropriate rolling out of the vowels, use these terms without translating: FAQ, doggy-bag, lap dance, bipartisan, provider, video poker and aquagym.An unusual addition to Italy’s most widely-sold dictionary–the adjective “fantozziano” after film icon Ugo Fantozzi, symbol of the unlucky office worker. Fantozzi, played by actor Paolo Villaggio, is overworked, underpaid constantly humiliated by the Mega President and always thwarted in attempts to make good with the office sex pot.
For more on current Italian speak, try this reader-recommended book:
Dictionary of Italian Slang
I’m happy when I can work in Italy, especially when I can choose projects I like and I believe in like this one,” says actress Monica.She was not, however, referring to her lead role in Giuseppe Tornatore’s latest film (Mal?na) but a bra commercial. The actress, blessed with Mediterranean good looks and stunning curves, has been a happy exile in France — where she’s better known for her acting than her sexy calendars and TV ads. Monica went Hollywood with “Under Suspicion,” where she made Gene Hackman a happy man, playing his wife. Married to French actor Vincent Cassel, met on the set of “Dobermann.” 
About the only rebellion left for Asia Argento was blissful, normal domesticity– the final frontier for an actress whose early career included starring roles in three of father Dario Argento’s horror movies.”My latest vice? Learning to cook risotto,’ quipped Italy’s favorite bad girl, 26, who is expecting her first child in June 2001 from singer Morgan of techno-band Bluvertigo. Asia was followed tolerantly in the Italian press through her various tattoos, dark-lady costumes and ambiguous relationships–facets of the public persona of an actress, screenwriter and director of some talent who has worked with Abel Ferrara, Cristina Comencini and Carlo Verdone.That is, until Asia announced she was to become a mamma–and the papers filled with disapproving reports about her climbing a rumbling Mt. Etna, a hit & run car accident and TV appearances with an ‘overexposed’ pregnant tummy. “As a pregnant woman in the public eye I truly feel like a freak, for the first time in my life,” she told newsweekly L’Espresso. “Fault or merit of Italian men who think pregnant women should be recluses.”Her remark was a response to outrage expressed by one of Italy’s reigning grandfathers of journalism, Enzo Biagi, who called her behavior “obscene” for a woman expecting a child. We expect she’ll keep pushing boundaries—as an actress or as a mother.
Alba Parietti, Italy’s poster girl for pneumatic plastic surgery, has gone from show girl (she can neither sing nor dance) to actress (a semi-erotic flop called “the Butcher”) to television host. Bored with being the dishy dunce on sport shows, Alba has gone serious. La Parietti has traded her bottle-blond mane for ebony locks, dumped Christopher Lambert in favor of businessman Jody Vender and decided to talk about sex. Despite the amount of jiggling flesh present in Italian tv, talking about sex is taboo and has meant sudden death for anyone brave enough deal with the subject matter. Will her “Capriccio” mean the end of the “Alba Nazionale?” 
Not surprisingly, 23-year-old beauty Manuela Arcuri won the title of “most clicked.” Arcuri, who hails from Latina, has never made her charms a secret: her latest mostly undressed calendar was an instant sell out. She was crowned the most wanted woman on the web recently by newsweekly Panorama, swiping the title from any number of starlettes with similar attributes. The actress, most recently seen in film “A Ruota Libera,” doesn’t have her own website–her popularity is based entirely on pirate photos filched by hard-breathing fans.