I left my hotel in the center of Milan early in the morning to buy myself a yogurt for breakfast. There was no desk clerk, okay. I’m walking along a deserted street, it seems to be Sunday. I see two Italian women talking; apparently, there is no point in addressing them in English. So, I know a few words in Italian: WHERE and THE SUPERMARKET. But HOW to tell THE NEAREST ONE?

The question is simple: How to get there or where is the NEAREST SUPERMARKET?

I go to them with a thought: How do you say “nearest” in Italian?

And then it suddenly dawned!

From the astronomy course, I remembered that the NEAREST star to us, Alpha Centauri, is called PROXIMA, that is, it is the closest!

I came up and addressed the women:

Scusi, signores, yo stranieri, dove supermercado PROXIMO, perfavore?

Excuse me, ladies, I’m a foreigner, please, where is the nearest supermarket?

(Mi scusi, signore, sono straniero, per favore, dov’è il supermercato più vicino? —

So it would be CORRECT in Italian!!!)

They looked at each other, thought for a second, and began to answer me in Italian, from which I realized that it was FAR AWAY! And they asked me, what exactly am I looking for?

Surprisingly, without knowing Italian, I understood their question.

I answer: Yogurt.

They perked up and explained that there was a dairy store three or four hundred meters away and I could buy yogurt there! I thanked them cordially and went in the indicated direction.

I bought yogurt, and at the same time, my favorite Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

That’s how useful school astronomy can be in linguistics!

Although… But STILL!

6 IX 2025