Life is Beautiful Glossary

Glossary of Terms

achtung!

an interjection meaning, roughly, "look out!" or "take care!"

anti-Semitism

discrimination or ill-will against persons who are Jewish or, sometimes, against persons of Middle Eastern descent

atmospheric

evocative; soft and indistinct

barbarian

a savage, uncivilized individual

barracks

a large building used for housing soldiers (or, in concentration camps, civilian detainees)

commedia della arte

improvised repartee

concentration camps

large prison camps used to confine large numbers of civilians

dramatic irony

irony that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in a play, film, or work of literature

Fascist

a member of the Fascist party; a person with ultra-nationalist views

Heil Hitler

the traditional salute to the German Führer, Adolf Hitler

lazzi

humorous interruption

Ministry

the body of ministers of state

Nazi

a member of the National Socialist German Workers' party, which seized control of Germany in 1933 and initiated a series of horrendous crimes against humanity

Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), French composer and cellist

piazza

an open, public square (usu. in Italy)

prefect

the dean of a school or college; a person in a position of command (usu. academic)

tragicomedy

a literary work containing elements of both tragedy and comedy

Visigoth

a member of one of the "barbarian" tribes that existed in France until ~507 and in Spain until ~711 after the fall of the Roman Empire