[Bon mots]

My anthro prof was asked by an italian farmer if he knew how to say “I am” in italian. He replied, “of course, Io sono”. “Wrong!”, he snapped back. “Io e-r-a”... (I w-a-s)

I don't get it...
... I missed something...

:-/

My Italian is quite rusty, but:
Io = I
sono = am, are
era = was

[epluribus_2]

to an italian farmer - their life and standing is always in the past. Io era. I used to be something. Not now.