Bisaccese dialect and nicknames

There exists a true Bisaccese-Italian dictionary as well as a collection of proverbs, sayings, and nursery rhymes. During events, the volunteers of Oscata inVita explain their meanings and share the anecdotes tied to the stories of the past.

Besides the proverbs, a distinctive feature of Oscata and its inhabitants is their ability to assign nicknames ("strangenomi")  to every person they encountered. It is said, in fact, "whoever comes to Oscata and is not given a name by the Oscatese is either sick or imprisoned". The Oscatese joker had to experience a serious mishap to restrain his creativity. Not by chance, an Oscatese was the protagonist of a legendary story involving an entire family. One day, an Oscatese asked a man: "Tu a chi appartieni? Te l'hanno puost' lo strangianome?" ("Whose child are you? Have they given you a nickname?"). The unfortunate man replied: "A me ancora me l'ann' mett'" ("They still have to give it to me"). From that day on, the man was called "quir' che ancor nge' l'ann' mett'" ("the man to whom still have to give it"). Even today, a family is identified by this playful nickname.