What the song is about
Two people have just finished having dinner at a restaurant. The plates are empty and the coffee is finished. They call the waiter, ask for the bill, pay by card, ask for the receipt, and leave a tip. At the end, they decide to split the cost in two and go home happy. It is a short story that follows, step by step, the moment of paying at a restaurant.
Useful words and expressions
- Il conto, per favore: the most common phrase for asking to pay.
- Scusi cameriere, può venire qua?: used to call the waiter politely.
- il cameriere: the person who serves at the tables.
- i contanti / la carta: paying with banknotes and coins or with a credit or debit card.
- il POS: in Italy, this is the terminal for paying by card (Posso pagare con il POS?).
- lo scontrino: the receipt you get after paying.
- la mancia: extra money left for the service. In Italy, it is not mandatory.
- il locale: a restaurant, a bar, or a pub.
- pagare alla romana: to split the bill equally. In the song, it also appears as dividiamo in due.
- ci siamo divertiti: we had a good time, we enjoyed ourselves.
- col cuore appagato: satisfied, happy.
- Grazie mille, Buona serata: typical farewells when leaving a restaurant.
Grammar
- The polite "Lei": the formal form is used with the waiter: Scusi, può venire, ci porti. Ci porti is the polite imperative of the verb portare.
- Passato prossimo: il tempo è volato, ci siamo divertiti, è stato un bel pasto. With reflexive verbs, the auxiliary verb essere is used.
- Imperfetto for descriptions: il cibo era ottimo, il ragazzo era bravo.
- Present tense in the first person plural: vogliamo pagare, lasciamo la mancia, andiamo a casa, dividiamo in due.
- Mi serve + noun: Mi serve lo scontrino means "I need the receipt" ("ho bisogno dello scontrino").
- Double negation: non c'è nessun caos, non c'è nessun dramma. In Italian, non and nessun go together in the same sentence.
- Shortened forms: son stands for sono and col stands for con il. Son is typical of songs and poetry.
Please note: choices made for the rhyme
- ci porti la spesa: at a restaurant, you say ci porta il conto? or ci porti il conto. La spesa mainly means grocery shopping at the supermarket (fare la spesa). Here it is only used to rhyme with attesa.
- non c'è più attesa: this is a somewhat unnatural phrase, also chosen for the rhyme.
- le lodi son sue: this is a poetic expression. To compliment the waiter, you simply say Complimenti! or Grazie, tutto ottimo.
- il vostro locale è davvero geniale: geniale is usually used for an idea. For a restaurant, it is more natural to say ottimo, bellissimo, or fantastico.
- il pos / caos: the rhyme is imperfect. The phrase può usare il pos is understandable, but it is more common to say Posso pagare con la carta?
- Stasera, ragazzi, paghiamo alla romana, l'ho detto: l'ho detto only serves to fill out the line. Furthermore, the song first talks about noi due and con te, and then addresses ragazzi: this is a small inconsistency due to the music.