Coatto (Adj.) is one of those slang Italian words that are fun to discover and that provide a window into Italian culture. The word Coatto doesn’t have a direct translation, but rather, it can mean many things (kind of like other fun words such as GEIL in German and GÜEY in Spanish).
I grew up in Rome, and when I think of the word Coatto, I visualize 2 things: 1st, I see a group of young Italian males hanging out in the city center, perhaps cat-calling girls, wearing intense clothing and sporting spiked hair. These types may be reffered to as “Coatti” (a group of coattos). Another image that comes to mind, is a very over the top, tricked out car, lowered, painted in an extreme color (perhaps a florescent pink VW GOLF) – “Che coatto” (How Coatto).
Warning: The top ranking definitions on Collins and Urban Dictionary are both wrong and incomplete (respectively)
“Coatto” meanings:
- Cool in an over-the-top kind of way. Bad-ass.
- Rude, uncouth, uneducated, not classy, someone with bad manners.
- A combination of cool and uncouth
EXAMPLES OF USAGE IN ITALIAN:
- That car is so cool/over-the-top = Quella macchina è coattissima
- You peed on the street? you are such a rude person = Hai pisciato per strada? Quanto sei Coatto!
- That was a bad-ass thing to do = Che coattata!
- You said a blasphemy curse word? You are a really Rude person = Hai detto una bestemmia? Sei proprio un Coatto!
MEANING OF “CAFONE”
Cafone is a word similar to Coatto, which means a an uncouth, boorish, ill-mannered person. It was originally a neutral Italian word meaning a poor peasant. Cafone can also be used to describe something that is over the top, however it isn’t usually used in the sense of “cool” like Coatto.
Most of us have a few things we like that could be considered “Coatto.” For example if you have a really loud harley davidson, or an intense shirt that you like to wear sometimes, even though you know its maybe just a bit over-the-top. You don’t have to be 100% Coatto, most of us have a few things that we like just because they are a little intense, or flashy, and that is OK!
