Well, I'm glad to see your post because I haven't read the book yet myself! It wasn't so much a rec as a "may find interesting."

Possibly? I guess it depends on the context in the story. Duane was once a language aficionado, as witness the pieces of Rihannsu and Vulcan she made up (less so the cat stuff, IMO), and it seems a weird mistake if it's a mistake. But I got nothin' re: the Italian mislabeling, which would put her story into a definite AU if not a mistake....