Very InformalEmilia-Romagnanoun
pataca
fool, idiot; worthless thing
Literal Translation
"patacca (fake coin, worthless medal)"
Formal Equivalent
stupido, cosa senza valore
Examples in Context
"Che pataca, ha chiuso le chiavi in macchina!"
"What an idiot, he locked the keys in the car!"
"Non comprare quella roba, è tutta pataca."
"Don't buy that stuff, it's all junk."
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Cultural Note
The quintessential Romagnolo insult, especially beloved in Romagna (Rimini, Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna). Derived from 'patacca' (a fake coin or worthless medal), it calls someone a fraud or a fool. So iconic that there's even a local saying: 'Romagnoli: brutta razza, o ladri o pataca' — self-deprecating regional humor at its finest.
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