Falsi amici - False friends

EN - predate
1 - to put a date on (something) earlier than the actual date
2 - to precede (something else) in time
Principale traduzione:
1 - retrodatare
2 - precedere, essere antecedente

IT - predare
1 - catturare prede, fare prede
2 - depredare
Main translation:
1 - to prey on
2 - to plunder, to pillage
 
    • We’ve had the noun ‘predation’ since the 15th century, apparently, and back-formed it into the verb ‘predate’ in Italian sense 1 in the 1940s. At least this is what it says at Lexico.
     
    EN - comprehensive
    wide in scope or in content; covering or involving much
    Principale traduzione: completo, esauriente

    IT - comprensivo
    che ha umana comprensione(*)
    Main translation: understanding, sympathetic

    (*) Dictionaries also include a meaning of "comprensivo" matching the one in English, but I'd say that this one is by far the most common.
     
    EN - Colonic: Of or pertaining to the colon.
    Principale traduzione: del colon.

    IT - Colonico: Di colono, di colonìa.
    Main translation: farm.
     
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    EN – brace [/ˈbreɪs/]
    - what holds parts together or in place, such as a clamp
    - what helps make something rigid
    - a pair, a couple (expecially of animals)
    Principali traduzioni: morsa, tutore, parentesi graffa, coppia

    IT – brace [ˈbratʃe]
    - carboni ardenti, specialmente per cucinare.
    Main translation: embers
     
    King Crimson said:
    Principale traduzione: completo, esauriente
    Click to expand...
    EN - esurient*
    - hungry, greedy
    Principali traduzioni: affamato, avido

    IT - esauriente
    - completo
    Main translations: thorough, comprehensive, complete

    * But this word is hardly ever encountered outside Monty Python, so forget I mentioned it; I'm sorry I wasted your time.
     
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    Starless74 said:
    EN – brace [/ˈbreɪs/]
    - what holds parts together or in place, such as a clamp
    - what helps make something rigid
    - a pair, a couple (expecially of animals)
    Principali traduzioni: morsa, tutore, parentesi graffa, coppia

    IT – brace [ˈbratʃe]
    - carboni ardenti, specialmente per cucinare.
    Main translation: embers
    Click to expand...
    Giusto una nota. Brace oppure braces in BE è anche l'apparecchio per i denti.
     
    london calling said:
    Giusto una nota. Brace oppure braces in BE è anche l'apparecchio per i denti.
    Click to expand...
    That isn't only BE. We use the same term (in AE) for teeth. However in AE we say 'suspenders' instead of the BE 'braces' referring to the sort of non-belt methods for holding up pants (the kind that Larry King was famous for wearing).
     
    EN - Alien
    traduzione: Straniero (anche Alieno ma in questo caso non è false friend)

    IT - Alieno
    Main translation: Alieno. Alien = foreign person = Straniero
     
    One that tripped my wife up this morning:

    EN - touch-and-go: precarious or delicate (state of affairs)
    Principale traduzione: (situazione) delicata, difficile

    IT - toccata e fuga: (fig.) di azione o esperienza consumata rapidamente
    Main translation: hit-and-run, one-off, flying visit

    Not sure it’s 100% right, also because this figurative sense of the ITA doesn’t seem to be defined in the main dictionary. I took it from mordi e fuggi, which apparently is very similar.
     
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    Toccata and fugue is of course a reference to Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor'.:)

    I can't say it would ever have occurred to me to translate touch-and-go as 'toccata e fuga', maybe because of the association with Bach's masterpiece. I'd add 'flying visit' and 'Toccata and Fugue' to the EN translation of it, in any case.
     
    Me neither: my wife's Italian though. :)
    I omitted the famous musical reference basically because I don’t think there's any risk of confusion when that’s the sense.
     
    london calling said:
    Toccata and fugue is of course a reference to Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor'.:)

    I can't say it would ever have occurred to me to translate touch-and-go as 'toccata e fuga', maybe because of the association with Bach's masterpiece. I'd add 'flying visit' and 'Toccata and Fugue' to the EN translation of it, in any case.
    Click to expand...

    Well, yeah, 'toccata e fuga' is primarily a reference to two types of Baroque musical composition. But it can be used (I heard it being used) as an equivalent to 'mordi e fuggi', 'una botta e via', etc. With a bit of irony.
     
    Odysseus54 said:
    Well, yeah, 'toccata e fuga' is primarily a reference to two types of Baroque musical composition. But it can be used (I heard it being used) as an equivalent to 'mordi e fuggi', 'una botta e via', etc. With a bit of irony.
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    Yes, that's why I suggested 'flying visit' as well. And if people are talking about classical music they do have to know how to translate it into English, right?

    In any case I honestly don't think this is a false friend. 😊
     
    EN - Vibrant adj.
    1. moving to and fro rapidly;
      vibrating.
    2. vibrating so as to produce sound, as a string.
    3. (of sounds) characterized by perceptible vibration;
      resonant;
      resounding.
    4. pulsating with vigor and energy:the vibrant life of a large city.
    5. vigorous;
      energetic;
      vital:a vibrant personality.
    6. exciting;
      stimulating;
      lively:vibrant colors; a vibrant performance.
    7. made with tonal vibration of the vocal cords;
      voiced.
    8. a vibrant sound.

    IT - vibrante agg.
    1. Che è in vibrazione: corde v.
    2. fig. Fremente, che esprime intensità di sentimenti: una v. protesta voce v. di sdegno.
     
    Starless74 said:
    Not so false, after all.
    Click to expand...

    Hmmm...in English we usually use the word vibrant figuratively rather than literally. It's used to describe someone/something colourful, lively, bright and exciting. It's often used synonymously with vivid - her hair was a vibrant purple...the market was vibrant and multicultural...

    When I used vibrante in this figurative context, my Italian friend corrected me and said I should use vivace, animato or dinamico instead; she said vibrante is only used figuratively in respect of trembling or quivering.

    So now I'm unsure.....
     
    Janey UK said:
    When I used vibrante in this figurative context, my Italian friend corrected me and said I should use vivace, animato or dinamico instead; she said vibrante is only used figuratively in respect of trembling or quivering.
    Click to expand...
    It seems to me that she’s right about the first part, as a general rule, but not the second. Not that dictionaries are never wrong, but they should probably have the benefit of the doubt.
     
    Janey UK said:
    she said vibrante is only used figuratively in respect of trembling or quivering
    Click to expand...
    Well, no, that would be "tremolante" or "tremante". Vibrante, when used figuratively, means impassioned, as in "una vibrante protesta" in your dictionary entry. But it's probably mostly used in connection with an act of language, like a speech, or even a letter. A colour, or even an action, is not commonly described as vibrante, except perhaps as a poetic usage. So I suppose it retains the original connection with sound, the human voice etc. Interesting.
     
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