It might have happened to you that you were asked a question and you didn’t have the exact data or details handy…and you found yourself using words such as “approximately, ..roughly….more or less…..ish (as used very often in Ireland!)”

Now imagine that conversation in Italy?!  even more difficult in Italian, right?!

Well, this post might be of use to you … 🙂

The expressions “a occhio e croce = roughly”, “circa/all’incirca= about” and “più o meno = more or less” they nearly all mean approximately, but in different ways:

“A occhio e croce”

is used when you are giving an approximate judgment just by looking at the object,

“Circa/all’incirca” 

“Più o meno”

are used when we want to give an approximate estimation about something

So for instance:
A- “Quanto tempo ci vuole ancora per cuocere la pasta?”
B-“Beh…guardandola, a occhio e croce direi due minuti ancora”.

“Ci vediamo alle 21 circa, al solito posto”
“Benissimo ci vediamo lì, saremo più o meno in cinque!”

Enjoy this “cortometraggio”- short film- where the expression “a occhio (e croce)” is used quite often! 😉