It literally translates as 'drops of anchovy' or something along those lines. Which actually doesn't sound very good at all. lolHave you ever used colatura di alici? I ran across its existence back when I was looking at pasta recipes. It's supposedly different than the SE Asian fish sauces even though it's basically the same ingredients.
I have not used it in cooking, but I have had it in food and think it's tasty. It is a very different animal than say Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce. SE Asian fish sauces tend to lean on shellfish in addition to bony fish, and are also fermented for a much longer period of time, which both contribute greatly to the added funk.
Colatura di alici is more akin to garum from Roman times.