Itally

Itally: noun. Contrary to popular belief, itally is not a traditional Mediterranean dish or a tally total of people with no gender. In reality, an itally is a potentially disloyal ally, hence the fact that it is derived from the words "it" and "ally." Of course, you may wonder how "it" has anything to do with being potentially disloyal. Let us explain: though a native English speaker may have some trouble understanding this, the "it" refers to the linguistic gender separate from male and female; the neuter, for example "das" in German. Funnily enough, Italians don´t actually use the neuter, which means that the language of origin wasn´t Italian, but German, and though it isn´t the only language that uses the neuter, it is clear that the Germans had most reason to coin this word. It was after the First World War (in which the Italians joined Britain and France despite having a separate agreement with the Central Powers) that an enraged German diplomat quite offensively called the Italians itallies in reference to their unclear loyalties. Little did he know that a similar occurrence would take place through the course of the Second World War too (in fact, he would never know, as he died of thalassaemia the following year while on a holiday in Cyprus). Although much of this diplomat´s political career rests in obscurity, his unknown name will forever be remembered for this man´s great contribution to the English language.