English
Alternative spellings
capice, capicé, capiche, capeesh, capisch, capishe, coppish
Etymology
From Italian #Italian|capisce, third person present tense form of capire "to understand", from Latin capio|capere "to grasp, seize". Related to capture.
Pronunciation
IPA|/ka.'pi�/
SAMPA|/k@."piS/
Interjection
capisce
- slang "Get it?"; "Understand?".
#*1996 Andy and Larry Wachowski, Bound, Dino De Laurentiis Productions and Spelling Films
#*:Gino Marzzone: You gotta start respecting Johnny, the way you respect me. Capisce?
#*1997 Eric Bogosian. Notes from Underground, page 138
#*:It's very simple, George, you forget about this whole licensing lawsuit pipe dream of yours or you can forget about your buddy working in my factory for the next couple of years. I will be that angry. Capiche?
#*2003 Richard Chiappone. Water of an Undetermined Depth
#*:I mean, if you were coming into the plant for the long haul, God forbid, then you'd have to think seriously about the money. Capiche?
Usage notes
Often used in a threatening manner, suggesting the w:Italian Mafia|Italian Mafia.
Without a question mark at the end, it is sometimes used colloquially to mean, "I understand".
It is important to underline that this is NOT an Italian word, in the use in American English here described.
It is one of a set of Italian-American words not part of the use of the Italian language.
Category:English interjections
Category:Italian derivations
Italian
Verb form
capisce
- third person singular present tense of capire
Category:Italian verb forms
co:capisce
fr:capisce
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