From Latin CANIS
FIGLIO DI UNA CANE!! Son of a dog!!
VITA DA CANI, dogs’ life, bad life
Lavorare, vivere, mangiare, dormire DA CANI — work, live, eat, sleep badly
FA UN FREDDO CANE, it’s damn cold, literally a dog kind of cold
UN MALE CANE! - A dog's pain
‘La gamba mi fa un male cane’ ‘My leg hurts like crazy’
COME UN CANE BASTONATO, as a beaten dog
‘Quando gli ho detto potevo aiutarlo, Se n’è andato come un cane bastonato’ - ‘When I told him I couldn’t help him, he left like a beaten dog, defeated and sad’
NON C’È UN CANE - When a place it’s empty, deserted, literally ‘Not even dogs are here’
‘Mamma mia, non c’è un cane in città, sono tutti in vacanza’- ‘wow, the city is empty, everybody is on vacation’
ESSERE SOLO COME UN CANE, as lonely as a dog
MENARE IL CAN PER L’AIA, to carry, to lead the dog around the farmyard, to waste time, to drag things for too long
CAN CHE ABBAIA NON MORDE, barking dog doesn’t bite
NON SVEGLIARE IL CAN CHE DORME, don’t wake up a sleeping dog
UN CANE CHE SI MORDE LA CODA, a dog biting its tail literally, meaning a vicious cycle
CANINO - Canine, our sharp tooth
