Resumen de Ital. meno male

Luca Serianni

• The Italian locution meno male is widely used in several usages to express relief or to asseverate ironically. It appears in the 16th century in the now obsolete form manco male and becomes widespread since Goldoni (1707–1793). It has very few cognates in the other European languages; the Sp. menos mal, although very close in form and meaning, must nevertheless be interpreted as an independent formation.