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I remember my grandmother saying sciò to keep away an animal that was getting too close to something or somebody, whatever it was a cat, a chicken, or a dog.

Can that exclamation be used also for a person? If the answer is positive, in which cases is that acceptable?

apaderno
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    Bonus: "sciò!", along with "via!" is often depicted in the signs in front of the Zio Paperone (Scrooge McDuck?) Deposito (Money Bin?) http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100803194146/paperpedia/it/images/3/3e/Deposito.gif – o0'. Sep 11 '14 at 07:28

1 Answers1

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I've heard it used even for people, but only in familiar or informal contexts; typically it's used to shoo (!) away children or people engaging in child-like disturbing behavior.

Unless clearly joking (at least to some extent), I would say it's rude to use it with adult people who aren't intentionally bothering somebody: the "target" of the sciò is put at the same level of an annoying animal or child, and is told to shoo away without even bothering to give a reason for that.

Matteo Italia
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