ATDTDA (1): "Imbottigliata!"

[Tim Strzechowski]

[...] "[The wife is] out there in the U.S.A. someplace with the mesmerizin variety artist she run away with, a certain Zombini the Mysterious."

"Know him, by gosh!" Chick Counterfly, nodding vigorously.  "Makes his molly disappear down a common kitchen funnel!  'Imbottigliata!' ain't it?  then he twirls his cape?  Seen it down in New Orleans with my own peepers!  some awesome turn, you bet!" [...] (p. 28)


imbottigliato
[ihm-boh-tee-LYAH-toh]
An Italian term meaning "bottled." Imbottigliato da means "bottled by;" Imbottigliato all'origine means "bottled at the source (or origin)" and is synonymous with "estate bottled."

http://www.epicurious.com/drinking/wine_dictionary/entry?id=6783



A former colleague and fluent speaker of Italian offers this suggestion regarding the word:

Here's my guess, Tim. First, you're corrrect about "bottled." Another word, "imbrogiliato", means conned, cheated, things like that. I suspect the writer created a new word by combining both because the combination connects to the original funnel metaphor.

An adjective ending in "O" iis masculine; "a" is feminine. Either the writer is trying to say the woman was cheated (which doesn't make too much sense to me from your excerpt), or he needs a couple of additional Italian lessons.

:) Nancy


My thoughts:

To me, the 'Imbottigliata!' suggests an Italian play on "Abracadabra!", which perhaps explains the "a."  And if Zombini is making "his molly disappear down a common kitchen funnel," the bottling definition maybe applies here, too.  


And this comes to mind, too:

http://www.clevelandseniors.com/images/music/jeannie.jpg

http://www.fancydresscostumeshop.com/images/small/2107.jpg
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