Italian Expression of the Day#6

HERE ARE A FEW EXPRESSIONS WITH THE WORD MANO.

Sfuggire di mano means to slip away from your hands. The English equivalent is to get out of hand.

Se non facciamo qualcosa, presto la situazione ci sfuggira' di mano. If we don't do something about it, the situation will soon get out of hand.  

A portata di mano in English can be translated into at your fingertips, close at hand, easily reached, gettable.  

Ti trovi una penna a portata di mano? Devo mettere una firma su questo documento. Do you have a pen at hand? I need to sign this document. La vittoria e' a portata di mano. Victory is at hand. 

Toccare con mano.

This expression comes from the gospel. When Jesus Christ appeared to his disciples three days after he died, St Thomas needed to stick his finger  in the cut Jesus got from a Roman soldier when on the cross to believe it was Jesus. It means to experience something directly. Non ci credo, finche' non lo tocco con mano. I won't believe it until I see it.  

Da quando sono in Canada ho potuto toccare con mano quanto faccia freddo in inverno in questo paese. Since I've been in Canada, I've been able to experience how cold it gets here in the winter. 

Mano a mano (or man mano) quite simply is an adverbial expression and means little by little, gradually, progressively.

Man mano che impari nuovi vocaboli, il tuo italiano migliorera'. As you learn new words, your Italian will improve.