Con l’oriuolo alla mano: espressioni idiomatiche di orologio e oriolo

Abstract

The two terms oriolo (with his variations oriuolo, orivolo) and orologio are two variants used in diachrony to indicate the same referent (the instrument used to measure time and hours). Oriolo was a form that initially spread from Tuscan use, while orologio instead established itself during the nineteenth century and, above all, the twentieth century. Both lexemes have created idiomatic expressions and proverbs: the forms that were formed on oriolo are more attested in literature and more recorded in historical lexicography and Tuscan usage; expressions constructed on clock are not particularly attested in lexicography. The behavior of the two lexemes in the formation of idiomatic expressions is, therefore, partly contrary to the diffusion experienced by the two lexemes, which has allowed clock to always be the most widespread word of the two, compared to oriole which is the most attested. The contribution therefore aims to show the idiomatic expressions created on the two lexemes under study, and observe the dynamics of behavior in the diffusion of the forms and in their attestation in historical lexicography, in Tuscan use and in contemporary use