Since a teenage runaway turned belly dancer announced last week she had attended parties at Silvio Berlusconi’s Milan home a new phrase has entered Italian life: Bunga bunga.

The latest scandal around the 74-year-old Italian Prime Minister who a string of younger women call “Dadi,” has created such mirth it’s even resulted in a new meaning for “bunga bunga” in the online Urban Dictionary.

Thanks to the tales told by a 17-year-old Moroccan called “Ruby” bunga bunga is now defined as an “erotic ritual which involves a powerful leader and several naked women”.

Spoofs and Satire

Media around the world have been riveted by Ruby’s  claims she witnessed so-called “bunga bunga” sex sessions – and ever since it’s been the subject of endless discussion in Italian cafes and bars as well as deliciously satirised in rap songs, parodies, billboards and television shows.

The phrase is said to come either from the punch-line to one of the premier’s favourite bawdy jokes, or refers to an “erotic ritual” that Mr Berlusconi learned from his friend Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader.

It has entered the Italian lexicon and inspired dozens of spoofs, including a parody by a TV comedian in which the words to the Shakira hit ‘Waka Waka’ – the official theme tune for this year’s Soccer World Cup – were replaced by references to bunga bunga.

Everyone In On the Joke

The catchphrase has even been co-opted by the sports press. When AC Milan, the team owned by Mr Berlusconi, were beaten at the weekend 2-1 by Juventus, La Gazzetta Sportiva ran the front page headline: “Bunga Bunga Juve!”

As for the claim it’s something Berlusconi picked up from Qaddafi, Slate’s Brian Palmer has noted:

“It’s not at all clear how Gaddafi could have learned the joke. He famously hates the English language and doesn’t speak it publicly. (Berlusconi, in contrast, speaks English proficiently. He also indulges in the occasional off-color joke.)

“Still, the Libyan leader is known for his fondness for women. He has been accused of trading journalists access for sex. He travels with an elite corps of female bodyguards, many of whom wear makeup and high heels.”

Aspiring actresses and starlets were reportedly given payments of €5,000 (USD $6800)) each after attending the dinners, where group sex games occurred which the Prime Minister and his entourage nicknamed “bunga bunga” parties.

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About the author

Jenny W
First career as newspaper and magazine journalist with daily newspapers and magazines, then as an editor who successfully launched a new national Sunday newspaper and NZ House & Garden magazine. First woman editor of NZ Listener. Enjoying a second career as a business owner and entrepreneur, health products marketer, social media habitué, blogger and web marketer. Still learning and loving it.

1 Comment for Bunga Bunga Sex Sessions

مهيمن

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