Confetti vs. Coriandoli

How come confetti is the English for the Italian coriandoli? thanks. Stefano

That’s a very interesting question, even if it’s hard to say “Why?” or “How come?” when it comes to languages. This is because the answer is usually “That’s just the way it is!” Confetti is, of course, the same word: in English it refers to the little bits of paper that are thrown at weddings (or at carnivals), while in Italian it refers to the sweets that are given to wedding guests. The English used to throw rice and sweets at weddings too, but they changed to little bits of paper at the end of the 19th century. This is because they considered it too dangerous as these objects could hurt people. They still use the same word, however.