MAMA MIA!

While living and teaching English in Italy, it was almost routine to see any English word that appeared in the newspapers misspelled or used incorrectly ( relax as a noun, etc.).

I just chalked it up to the incompetence of the Italian journalists--after all, incompetence is the standard there in almost every other facet of life.

However, I do expect better when I read my beloved L.A. Times, and I must point out the errors in “A Wedding in the Family” (by William K. Knoedelseder Jr., June 1).

That standard Italian dance tune “La Tarantella” is not “The Spider,” but “The Tarantula,” and evidently someone wrote down “Anema e Core” as it was pronounced. This is a terrible mistake, since neither of these words, as they appear in print, even exist in the Italian language. The title of the song would be “Anima e Cuore,” which for us would be “Heart and Soul.”

Now, I don’t expect the people who write for The Times to be fluent in Italian, but 50 lashes with a wet lasagna noodle for not checking with someone who is before putting words of another language in print in an otherwise fine article.

LAHNEEN GALLO

Ontario