Fourteen is 'o 'mbriaco, the drunk. The apostrophe at the front is doing real work: Neapolitan drops the opening vowel of ubriaco and hardens what is left, so the written form keeps a scar where the u used to be.
Sicily has u mbriacu on the same number. Across ninety squares the two boards land together maybe thirty times, and this is one of them.
- 14
- 'O 'mbriaco
- the drunk
- Row 11–20 of the tabellone
Where the figure comes from
Not recorded. Nothing about fourteen suggests drink and no compiler has explained the choice.
Other things filed on 14
In Neapolitan life
The word-cluster around 14 is a small comedy in itself: a barrel, an empty purse, a pharmacy, a sleeping cat, a limp. Read in a row it is a night out and the following morning, which is either a compiler with a sense of humour or a coincidence, and there is no way to tell which.
14 in the smorfia — frequently asked
Neapolitan drops the initial vowel of the Italian ubriaco. The apostrophe marks what was cut.
Yes. The Trapani board has u mbriacu at 14, one of about thirty squares where the two lists coincide.