008 scusi o scusate

Since Sarah found my last linguistic comment interesting, here's another.

All the Italian books and CDs you find say to use "scusi" for excuse me. But when Jason and I were in Sicily last year for Flavia's wedding, we noticed everyone using "scusate" instead. We didn't know what that meant, but we assumed it meant "excuuuuuuuuuse YOU".

Well, I got the explanation from Delfi last night. Apparently it's an ultra-polite way to say excuse me, something like "excuse me, milord / milady". It's left over from aristrocratic times and you only hear it in Napoli and Sicilia.

But here in Rome you hear "scusi" and "permesso".