Seventy is 'o palazzo. English hears palace and Italian mostly means building: in Naples a palazzo is the block you live in, with a courtyard, a porter and a staircase everybody's business travels up.
The board keeps both senses at once, which is why the dictionary sends a bank, a basilica and a burglary all to the same square.
- 70
- 'O palazzo
- the palace
- Row 61–70 of the tabellone
Where the figure comes from
Not recorded.
Other things filed on 70
In Neapolitan life
The Neapolitan palazzo is a social unit before it is an architectural one, and much of the city's theatre, De Filippo's above all, is set in one. The landlord at 31 owns it, the woman on the balcony at 43 lives in it and the thief at 79 works it.
70 in the smorfia — frequently asked
In Neapolitan usage, usually the block. The word covers both and the board does not choose.
No. The figure is generic, and in Neapolitan usage it means the block you live in as readily as anything grand.