Italian shops are often called something ending in “-eria”. A bookshop is a
libreria, from
libro which means book. A
pizzeria makes and sell
pizze (plural of
pizza), a
gelateria sells
gelato, icecream, and so on. An
osteria sells hospitality, literally a “hostery” like in “host” 🙂
Since the scheme is very simple, it is very easy to create new words this way, words that are immediately understandable, though missing in most dictionaries.
Here are a few of the ones I have stumbled upon lately.
A
yogurteria probably sells youghurt icecream, since it is also a
gelateria. It is also a
creperia from the French “crepe”, pancake. Seen in Alghero, Sardinia.
A
drinkeria sells drinks. It is a bar, after all. They also sell sandwiches, as it is also a
panineria In Palermo, Sicily.
The word
pantofole means slippers, so a
pantofoleria is probably a shop specialised in slippers. Palermo, Sicily.
Cous-cous is not only eaten in North Africa, it is also considered native to Western Sicily. Hence one should not be surprised to find a
cous cousseria in Palermo, Sicily.
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