“Mischinu” or “mischino” is a word that we hear echoing a lot in the Sardinian language. It is a term that has its roots in Arabic and in fact derives from the Arabic word "Miskin", which means "poor" or "unfortunate" .
Arabic influence is also evident within the French and Italian languages . In the first case, in France, a television series called "Miskina" emerges and talks about a scruffy, short-sighted and unfortunate girl of African origins, without a partner, without a job and who still lives with her mother. His name is Fara and everyone is talking about this television production.
And even in Italian we find the term "meschino" but with a different meaning : over time, the word has taken on a different meaning, referring to an evil, mischievous and narrow-minded person. In Sardinian the meaning is identical to that of the Arabic term and in fact, when we say "mischino" or "mischineddu", the translation from Sardinian into Italian would be: "povero" and "poverino".
But "mischino" is also used in an antiphrastic way to indicate the opposite of what is being said and in fact it can also be used to indicate a person who is not poor but who is clever and a cheater.
narat su diciu
The "mischino" of Sardinia and the Italian one: but the origin of the word is Arabic
In the island it means "poor" or "poor thing", in France also a television series