When people get loud, Italians say it’s an “ambaradan.” The word, which can be translated as “messy situation,” comes from Amba Aradam, a mountain in Ethiopia, where Italian troops crushed the local resistance in 1936 using mustard gas, in violation of the Geneva Protocol.
Most Italians ignore the fact that the word’s etymology stems from a colonial war crime. In fact, Italy’s colonial past is largely absent from public debate in the country.
