HE THINKS HE'S TURNING ITALIAN (REPEAT) ... YOU KNOW HE THINKS SO

Dear Curmudgeon's Agony Aunt.

I have a friend who is a nice guy but as he gets older he sure gets crankier as well.His crankiness manifests itself in his comments on other's blog posts and seem to be worse when written late at night, obviously fuelled by a bit too much chardonnay (unlabelled).
He has a brother who, like Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham to Donald Trump, ingratiatingly praises him to his face but says derogatory things about him behind his back (but that's another story).
My friend has taken to speaking and writing in Italian and uses this language for his most vitriolic comments.
Should I learn Italian in order to understand his comments and to respond in kind?

                                                                                   - Uncertain


Dear Uncertain. Didn't your mother ever say to you "OK, so just because Johnny jumps off a cliff, will you do so as well?"
Don't be such an idiot. This cranky friend of yours soon won't have any friends at all if he keeps getting crankier. He's using this foreign language as a crutch to disguise past failings. I've found that such people who take up another language later in life do so because they failed to master other languages at school and are resentful of those who did. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a load of imaginary friends who he corresponds with.
Ignore it.

p.s. this brother of his sounds like a bit of a worry though.



- The Curmudgeon's Agony Aunt.