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Since people asked... a thread on TUSCANIAN CURSES (as in, swearing) as they appear in my YA novel ASHES TO ASHES! 
1/?
1/?
'Maremma impestata ladra'
classic Tuscanian curse. It literally translates to 'plagued and thief Maremma'... which, doesn't make much sense. But rather than a literal translation, you need to understand the context 2/?
classic Tuscanian curse. It literally translates to 'plagued and thief Maremma'... which, doesn't make much sense. But rather than a literal translation, you need to understand the context 2/?
Maremma is a coastal area of Tuscany which was, in the past, a swampy hell full of malaria. The land was cleaned ('bonificata') only in the first half of 1800. But by then, the Tuscanian people already had this imagery of the Maremma as a terrible place 3/?
Thus, you'll find the Maremma invoked in almost every Tuscanian curse, with various derogatory associations - such as thief (ladra) and plagued/full of maladies (impestata) 4/?
Other Tuscanian curses featured in A2A:
'Maremma maiala impestata lurida arroventata' - Pig Maremma plagued and dirty and scorching hot
'Maremma maiala lupente rozza sbudellata fatta male in viso e in corpo' - Pig Maremma halfwolf crude gutted ugly in face and body 5/?
'Maremma maiala impestata lurida arroventata' - Pig Maremma plagued and dirty and scorching hot
'Maremma maiala lupente rozza sbudellata fatta male in viso e in corpo' - Pig Maremma halfwolf crude gutted ugly in face and body 5/?
(yes Tuscanian people are very hardcore with their curses 5bis/?)
Also, Tuscanian - along with Venetians - are famous in Italy for having the most imaginative blasphemous curses! Those, however, do not feature in my book 
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