Carrà and the ‘carrambata’ that has also conquered the vocabulary

With “carrambata” Raffaella Carrà, who died today at 78, has also earned a place in the vocabulary of the Italian language. The neologism was born following the great success of the Rai 1 broadcast “Carramba! What a surprise” (1995-97 and 2002) and soon spread into common language. Read also The feminine noun, with an ironic meaning, is recorded by all the major dictionaries, from the Treccani Vocabulary to the Devoto-Oli, to the Zingarelli. From a situation that recalls typical moments of the television program “Carràmba! What a surprise”, the definition of “carrambata” was born as, lexicographers write, “unexpected meeting with one or more people with whom they had lost contact”.