Back in March an online petition calling on Italians to stop using English words (for which there are equivalents in their own language) gathered nearly 70,000 signatures . Italians should not squander the “history, culture and beauty of our language”, said the campaigners, who highlighted the growing use of clumsy hybrid terms such as “footing” (jogging), “baby parking” (crèche) and “mister” (football coach). The issue seems to be one of mounting concern: the Italian navy recently caused outrage by using the English slogan “Be cool and join the navy” on a recruitment poster, while the government ran into trouble for referring to a piece of legislation as “the jobs act” rather than “la legge sul lavoro”. (The Week)

Italian is a beautiful language. English is, too. But why undermine your own ancient culture by using these silly expressions? English has always adopted foreign words since the days of the Romans; it is expected. But the Italians have done less of it, until now. Their wonderful way of life is already under siege by the  influx of people. Were I Italian I would protest these pseudo-English importations, too.