le chiacchiere stanno a zero

[laga]

Ciao Forum, What would be the best way to translate

Qui le chiacchere stanno a zero

into English? That phrase was said by a mafia boss to a young man who was forced to kill his compare (even though they were friends) in a short story I just read.
Thanks so much for your help

 

[MStraf]

In this context, it means "they should no exist" (No talks here)

 

[laga]

Nel senso 'qui non si parla' (cioè in generale) oppure 'non vale la pena parlarne' (proprio di quel tuo compare)? Non capisco bene...

 

[Teerex51]

Talk is cheap is the closest English expression I can think of.

 

[MStraf]

Nel senso 'qui non si parla' (cioè in generale) oppure 'non vale la pena parlarne' (proprio di quel tuo compare)?

Nel senso "do what I am telling you to do and just shut up the up"

PS "talk is cheap" has a different meaning, it means "talk is easy, acting is hard"

 

[GavinW]

Nel senso "do what I am telling you to do and just shut up the up"

PS "talk is cheap" has a different meaning, it means "talk is easy, acting is hard"

Right! Thanks for pointing out so clearly the underlying message in this highly idiomatic (and therefore "unpredictable") expression.

Elsewhere, in other contexts, the expression will have other meanings. Here, I'm getting something like "Cut the crap! (= Just do it!)". In other words, "don't talk, mainly because I don't want you to say anything."

 

[effeundici]

I doubt that a mafia boss could ever use this expression, being this expression - as far as I know- from Rome (or maybe central Italy) and being mafia bosses from Sicily.

But maybe you call mafia boss any criminal living south of the Alpes

 

[laga]

Si tratta di un capo area - mi dispiace se non ho scelto la parola adatta - a Napoli (in un racconto scritto da un napoletano).
Grazie per tutte le risposte

 

[prowlerxpla]

Le chiacchere stannoa zero means that the boss don't care at all what the guy is saying and the problem is another.
Per esempio un venditore che non vende molto va dal suo capo:
capo: Gianni questo mese hai venduto proprio poco (Gianni this month you sold few)
venditore Gianni: sì è vero, ma la macchina s'è rotta, mia suocera è stata male, mi sono fatto male a un piede, ecc... (yes it's true, but my car was broken, my mother in low was ill, my foot hurt, etc...)
capo: le chiacchere stanno a zero bello!, qui bisogna fare fatturato mica pettiniamo bambole noi.(?????)
Hope it helps

 

[GavinW]

capo: le chiacchere stanno a zero bello!, qui bisogna fare fatturato mica pettiniamo bambole noi.(?????)
Hope it helps

I haven't got time for all that. / We don't have time for that now. / Get your arse into gear! / You can forget about all that. / That's not what I want to hear / Cut it! / Cut the talk! / Stop whingeing!/whining! / Wise up! / Get wise!
etc etc...
I think my last two suggestions are the closest.....

(Mica pettiniamo bambole! = We're not picking daisies!)
;-)

 

[prowlerxpla]

(Mica pettiniamo bambole! = We're not picking daisies!)
;-)

picking daisies very cute

I haven't got time for all that.
We don't have time for that now.

Yes this two are closer I think, and the subsense is that you can tell me what you want and everything is understandable but the core problem is that you have to sell more than in the past month so stop whingeing and start to work.

Get your arse into gear! ?????

 

[golDroger88]

La discussione è vecchissima ma dato che risulta comunque fra i primi risultati di google mi permetto di suggerire una traduzione alternativa:
"enough talk".

 

[GavinW]

Actually I feel I've got a better handle on it than before, and I like "There's no two ways about it". I think, specifically, that an impersonal expression ("When push comes to shove", that sort of thing) will tend to capture the general (and generic) meaning more than a verb and personal pronoun construction.

 

[longplay]

Ciao Forum, What would be the best way to translate

Qui le chiacchere stanno a zero

into English? That phrase was said by a mafia boss to a young man who was forced to kill his compare (even though they were friends) in a short story I just read.
Thanks so much for your help

"Words don't matter" , maybe. (Literally: 'have zero value").

 

[marinucleo]

I haven't got time for all that. / We don't have time for that now. / Get your arse into gear! / You can forget about all that. / That's not what I want to hear / Cut it! / Cut the talk! / Stop whingeing!/whining! / Wise up! / Get wise!
etc etc...
I think my last two suggestions are the closest.....

(Mica pettiniamo bambole! = We're not picking daisies!)
;-)

"Le chiacchiere stanno a zero" si puo' rendere tramite "point is moot"