My first reply was lost in the ether of server malfunction, so I'll
switch newsgroup hosts and write again in English to save time.
In a literal sense, I thought the word "pompino" referred to a small
pump, "pompa" with the diminutive "ino" although I'm well aware of the
common connotation. The word "telefonino" doesn't mean a small, cute,
"telefono" but rather has been accepted to mean a mobile phone. In a
similar way, you would avoid calling a small, cute "pompa" a "pompino"
because that word has taken on a particular connotation.
To paraphrase the old song lyric, you say pompino, I say piccola carina
pompa, let's call the whole thing off. I don't want to prolong a
discussion that may not be appreciated, but I am very interested in the
topic of the difference between the figurative and the literal, putting
aside the fact that a semiotic discussion would start at the point that
any word is an abstraction.
>> Per quanto riguarda lo scherzare, beh, è necessario sempre un po'
>> dell'ironia per fare allegro i discorsi della lingua: tongue-in-cheek
>> diciamo in inglese. C'è un'espressione del tipo in italiano?
>
> Non lo so, sinceramente. Qualche dizionario lo traduce come "essere
> ironico", ma non sono completamente d'accordo. Essere ironici significa
> affermare qualcosa dicendo il contrario e non mi pare di aver fatto
> questo nel post precedente.
You're right that it isn't irony. This is something that has bothered me
for a long time, but I've come to accept the fact that Italians don't
seem to differentiate types of humor but call almost everything ironic.
When in Rome...
In English we differentiate between dry humor, which often involves
understatement, absurd humor, which I appreciate greatly,
tongue-in-cheek which adds a twist to the meaning of a statement, and a
host of other categorizations. So, if you can suggest different Italian
words to use, I'm all ears.