Yesterday, in the company of three Italians, and women at that, I made a little discovery concerning something which is not in Italy.
What I discovered was that something I grew up with in England is hardly known here in Italy. This surprised me, as the item to which I am referring inhabited most of the bathrooms I had ever visited in the British Isles.
Thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Italian bathroom with one, and I don’t recall having seen the things in Italian shops either, whereas no self-respecting Boots the Chemist’s would be without them.
Just what the blazes am I on about. Well, dear reader, I’m not going to let on. It’s Monday, the weather is grotty here in dull Milan, so I thought I’d try to extinguish those Monday blues with a little fun.
If you have not guessed what the heck I’m waffling on about, and have a few spare moments, then do read on for some more clues.
A Few More Clues
- Italians probably don’t even know what the Italian word is for this odd item in their language. In fact, when I looked it up in a dictionary, I was told my dictionary was up the creek. A quick Google proved that it was not.
- Many Italians, I would hazard a guess, do not know that these things even exist.
- I don’t know whether these weird and wonderful naturally created objects are used in countries outside of the United Kingdom, and I don’t know where they come from.
- It’s scratchy when new, but becomes somewhat slimy and horrible after a time.
Any ideas? If so, post them in a comment. And for extra brownie points, tell me what the Italian for this item is too!
Happy guessing.
Vic says
Alex;
Since you wrote to me, I remain encouraged. I think the item you are describing is a bottle of Pond Scum covered by a light coating of bread crumbs. Or maybe it’s just bread crumbs, or even oatmeal. No, wait, you said it’s in a bathroom. It may be a book on Sandy Kofax or Sandy Duncan that gets wet in the shower and becomes slimy. Maybe it’s your beard. It starts off scratchy then you apply shaving cream and it gets slimy.
Alex says
Hi Vic,
Sorry to hear that the cold turkey sandwich lunch did not help. And no, it ain’t no soap on a rope (Can you still get it?).
Your powers of reduction are impressive. Well, almost, as I have experiences the odd slimy cloth in my life. No, life has not always been a bed of roses for me. I have, however, not, as yet, luckily, encountered slimy metal, but I live in hope.
And the mysterious item is not a weed, you see.
I suggest you go for a little scroll.
Later,
Alex
vic says
I first thought of a loofah then a bar of soap with lava or pumice imbedded in it. Then I thought of a turkey sandwich and I went out for lunch. Now I am back and still pretty clueless, but I will keep guessing. If it gets slimy after using, then it must not be made of cloth or metal. It could be wooden or something made of algae. But not algae, because algae is always slimy. Let’s see, is it soap on a rope?
Sean Carlos says
Now Alex it does strike me that you’re on to a market opportunity.
As for the brand name, if a supermarket can be called “Foody”, than this is got to be “Loo For”, which nicely maintains similarity to the original.
riccardo says
Alex,
just start reading your blog and blog in general. Very interesting to improve english.
If what are you saying is a natural sponge, it should be forbidden to sell in Italy as it ‘s a kind of sea animals protected. That’s probably the reason why you haven’t seen in Italy yet.
Ciao
Alex says
Hi Riccardo,
Good to hear you are using my blog to improve your English. To help you with those problem words, and if you use Firefox, you might find this plugin, called Quick TransLation or QTL for short, useful. It’s here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5641
It allows you to translate words by selecting them with your mouse – double left click. I’ve set my version up to work after I hold down the ‘Alt’ key. Very useful, I think.
Now, loofahs actually come from a plant, and is actually a fruit! I can be eaten too. Have a look at this wikipedia article to improve your English some more, and learn all about loofahs! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loofah
Best,
Alex
Alex says
Well done Sean! Round of applause!
It is the humble loofah, and yes, the not dissimilar translation is right – it is ‘luffa’ in Italian – should be in English too!
So, if you are a loofah lover who cannot live without one, and you are coming to Italy, bring your own!
All the best,
Alex
dina says
Funny, that the first time I log ino expats to find more about living in Italy the conversation should be about something we have here in Hawaii also, besides bathrooms, we have loofahs.
A loofah looks like a soft but stiff spiny root in a tubular shape that really isn’t to slimy till you’ve used it several times washing dead skin cells from your body, like a sponge. Eventually they end up in the trash like most things from the bathroom. I guess you could put it in the compost, or decorate it for christmas and give it away as some plant that grows special mold made from dead skin, throw in some dead sea salt while your at it for a complete package. You’d have to be pretty creative, but you could do it. Well anyway at least the bathroom and what we do there is pretty universal,,,bye fr Hawaii
Alex Roe says
Hi Dina,
Glad to hear you have bathrooms in Hawai! It certainly sounds as if it is a lovely place.
As for loofahs, very strange that you’ve got ’em in Hawai, they exist in the UK, but not in Italy! No reason why loofahs cannot be chopped into little pieces and placed in the garden, I suppose. Organic fertilizer?
How come you are interested in life in Italy? Are you planning on moving here?
Best,
Alex
gaurav says
its a ‘soap’
Sean says
Hmmm. What immediately sprang to mind from your description was a loofah (‘luffa’ in italiano (according to Wikipedia)). I’m not horribly familiar with Italian bathrooms, though, so for all I know loofahs are omnipresent in Italy.