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I was recently in italy in a high class hotel restaurant and after the waiter served me wine I said "grazie" and he returned something that sounded like "Grazie bui" (or "Grazie piu" but I think it was the first one).

I never heard that before. Normally I get an answer like "prego" or similar. What does "Grazie bui" mean? According to wikitionary "bui" could be the plural of "buio" meaning "darkness" or "dark" but that wouldn't match up I believe.

DaG
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Shihan
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    Might it be Grazie a voi (= “Thank you!” with a respectful form for “you”?) – DaG Jul 15 '15 at 13:15
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    Yes, at times, speaking, shortened to "grazie voi" which sounds close to "grazie bui". –  Jul 15 '15 at 13:29
  • Ah, yes that could be. I thinkt that's the right answer, maybe you should post it as an answer so I can select it as "the" answer. – Shihan Jul 16 '15 at 08:23

1 Answers1

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I believe it was actually Grazie a voi (= “Thank you!” with a respectful form for “you”).

In some parts of Italy, especially in the South, some consonants are pronounced as more voiced than in standard Italian; so “v” tends towards “b” and “t” towards “d” (as in the parody of a politician of some time ago, who was described as saying “Dorondondario” for “Toronto, Ontario”).

DaG
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    Furthermore, the closing of the /o/ towards the /u/ under certain circumstances (like voi→vui or vuje) is peculiar to many median and southern dialects. – Walter Tross Jul 17 '15 at 20:20