What You Didn’t Know…

Diva

There are hundreds maybe even thousands of words that Americans misuse on a daily basis. The mistake Americans make is reusing a word as they heard it instead of looking the word up in a dictionary to see the actual meaning. One of those words that is often (if not always) misused by Americans is Diva. Americans believe a Diva is a female celebrity who has either a bad or good attitude or personality. There are two meanings of the word Diva. The Latin word Diva in English is devil. However, the term Americans use to describe a female performer does not describe a person’s character trait.   Diva is an Italian word and simply means female deity or goddess. It was originally used to describe female opera singers. For the most part It simply means leading actress (in an opera). Divo of course is leading actor. It is actually a positive term and not the negative most Americans associate the term with. As the same goes for the term prima donna (first lady), which again means leading actress (in an opera or Commedia dell'arte). Prima uomo is the term used for the leading actor.  Neither terms describe a person’s attitude or personality, but instead a role in an opera or Commedia dell'arte. Surprised? Now, before you use words you never looked up in a dictionary…go look them up, they may not be what you think.