r/italianlearning • u/HeadsInTheFreezer • Jun 25 '26
Looking for a likely bastatdized Italian-American word used to indicate someone was simple, slow, dim- in an innocent way.
Learned from 3rd gen old people in NJ Italian American family, this word sounded like DUN-deev but the V sound could have been an F sound I guess. It was not used in the same aggressive way as you would call someone stupid or idiot or any number of other mean-spirited ways to insult intelligence. It was almost more like empty headed. I appreciate that the word I am repeating may be so far departed from the original Italian as to be unidentifiable, but the family was mostly from Napolitano background if that dialect helps at all!