Sursee Gal In Italy :: The Mysterious Word, Allora

 One of the things we noticed as we were walking down narrow streets or sitting on trains or in a crowd of people in a piazza was the frequent use of the word, Allora.  Before we left for our trip, Craig and I had bought a fun set of two CDS that taught us Italian through songs. We had fun preparing and were actually  able to speak a few things while there.  But this word, allora, I kept hearing and did not know what they were saying or what it meant.Kids said it.  Women, arm in arm shopping, said it.  I heard it when people talked on the phone or ordered their lunch. I was so curious, allora. When I would ask someone at our various B&Bs or agriturismos where we stayed to define the word, they had a hard time explaining just exactly what it meant, like there wasn't an English equivalent.When I looked online, it was described as a "mysterious word you hear a lot in Italy" or an "Intriguing word", or a "toss away word".  I thought it did sound very mysterious and well, Italian.  I wanted to know how to use it correctly.

One article defined it by saying Allora  is used in many,many ways. It can be loosely translated as "then","so", "therefore". 

Our Italian friends in Milan explained that it is a connecting word, a word you use when you are thinking and hemming and hawing and filling the space of a conversation. Oh, I thought. It is like when we say, you know, or like or UMMM...  But it is so much more beautiful.

Allora is a beautiful way to give yourself room to think.  Craig and I decided, allora, that we would learn to insert it in our conversations, allora, so we would come back all Italian.  What, allora, do you think about that? Allora.