rompere le scatole
to annoy, to bother, to pester
Intermediate Phrase
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Pronunciation
/ˈrom.pe.re le ˈska.to.le/
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Cultural Note
Literally 'to break the boxes,' this is the polite euphemism for the much cruder 'rompere le palle/i coglioni.' Everyone knows what it's substituting, but 'scatole' keeps it family-friendly. Extremely common in everyday Italian. A 'rompiscatole' is an annoying person.
📝 Example Sentences
Smettila di rompermi le scatole!
Stop bugging me!
Quel cliente mi rompe le scatole tutti i giorni.
That customer bothers me every day.
Non voglio rompere le scatole a nessuno.
I don't want to bother anyone.