Italian expression of the day: ‘Far venire il latte alle ginocchia’

How Italians describe something so boring it tests your patience.

If something is driving you mad with boredom, Italian has a particularly vivid expression for it: far venire il latte alle ginocchia .

Literally meaning 'to make the milk come up to the knees', far venire il latte alle ginocchia is used when something or someone is extremely boring, tedious or irritating. It can also describe a long, repetitive wait or activity that is really starting to test your patience.

Questo film mi fa venire il latte alle ginocchia. This film is incredibly boring.

Quella riunione mi ha fatto venire il latte alle ginocchia. That meeting was so tedious.

The expression is colloquial, and dictionaries give it meanings along the lines of 'to bore' or 'to annoy deeply'.

The most commonly cited explanation takes us back to the days when cows were milked by hand.

The person doing the milking would sit on a low stool with a bucket between their legs and spend a considerable amount of time filling it. As the milk slowly accumulated in the bucket, it would eventually reach the level of the milker's knees.

The image of having to sit there patiently while the milk very slowly rises towards your knees is thought to have given rise to the expression: something that takes ages and tests your patience can far venire il latte alle ginocchia .

And you don't have to be talking about an actual delay to use it. A person who talks endlessly, a film that seems to go nowhere or a tedious administrative procedure can all far venire il latte alle ginocchia .

Quel professore parla così lentamente che mi fa venire il latte alle ginocchia. That professor speaks so slowly that he drives me mad with boredom.

La burocrazia italiana a volte fa venire il latte alle ginocchia. Italian bureaucracy can be incredibly tedious sometimes.

The phrase can also be used when you're the one becoming fed up. For example:

Mi sta venendo il latte alle ginocchia. I'm getting really fed up / This is really trying my patience.

The expression is particularly useful when something is not necessarily infuriating, but is so boring, drawn-out or repetitive that you can barely stand it anymore.

Depending on the context, English equivalents include 'to bore someone to death', 'to drive someone mad', 'to try someone's patience' or simply 'to be incredibly tedious'.

There are plenty of less colourful ways to say the same thing. Annoiare means 'to bore', while seccare and stufare can mean 'to annoy' or 'to get on someone's nerves', which are among the closest equivalents of far venire il latte alle ginocchia .

So next time someone launches into a story that has no apparent ending, or you find yourself trapped in a queue that barely moves, you now have a distinctly Italian way of expressing your frustration.

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