piove sul bagnato

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underhouse

Senior Member
Milan
Italian
Contesto: conversazione telefonica.

Tino: "ciao Pino, come va con Anna?"
Pino: "lascia stare, mi ha appena mollato"
Tino: "caspita non lo sapevo. Dai che usciamo e ti offro una birra."
Pino: "non posso uscire, ho 40 di febbre"
Tino: "piove sul bagnato".
 
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    SPQR

    Senior Member
    US
    American English
    underhouse said:
    Contesto: conversazione telefonica.

    Tino: "ciao Pino, come va con Anna?"
    Pino: "lascia stare, mi ha appena mollato"
    Tino: "caspita non lo sapevo. Dai che usciamo e ti offro una birra."
    Pino: "non posso uscire, ho 40 di febbre"
    Tino: "piove sul bagnato".
    Click to expand...


    When it rains, it pours.
     
    D

    Dushnyoni

    Senior Member
    Brescia (Italy)
    English Kenya
    One more querry guys,
    How can I put this accross? I have no idea. I can only think of periphrases.
    Context: Ma è proprio vero che piove sempre sul bagnato.
    Thanks in advance
     
    D

    DonZauker83

    New Member
    Italian
    Hi everybody,

    I have a problem with the translation of the proverb "Piove sempre sul bagnato". It has two possible meanings:
    a) le disgrazie non vengono mai da sole, "bad things never come alone", and in this case it can be translated as "When it rains, it pours", that is its classical translation.
    b) le cose capitano (o le fanno) a chi non ne ha bisogno e non capitano (o non le fanno) a chi ne ha bisogno. In english, the second interpretation is: things happen to those who are not taking any advantage from them and do not happen to people who need them. I need an idiomatic form for this second interpretation.

    Please, help me, no-one of my personal contacts (even english teachers) has an idea of it!

    Thanks!
     
    G

    Giorgio Spizzi

    Senior Member
    Italian
    Ciao Don e benvenuto al Forum.

    Io direi:

    A- "It never rains but it pours"

    B- Qui invece quello che cerchi è forse un omologo inglese, se esiste, di "Spesso a chi ha il pane mancano i denti e a chi ha i denti manca il pane". Però non sono in grado d'aiutarti.

    Cari saluti.

    GS
     
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    DonZauker83

    New Member
    Italian
    Ci avevo pensato ma (almeno dall'italiano) non mi sembrava calzare a pennello con quello che intendevo dire.
    Grazie mille comunque!
     
    J

    johnnylucas

    Member
    London
    English - England
    'The luck of the Irish' may be closest, though it doesn't quite fit totally. Usually in this situation, you might start off with an idiomatic question that's often used, like: 'Isn't it always the way?' And then you would say something according to the situation you are in, e.g. if you have lost something you would say 'Why are things always there when you don't need them and then are gone when you do?' or something similar. But in terms of an actual stock idiomatic phrase, then I'm stuck at the moment...
     
    T

    Tunalagatta

    Senior Member
    English - England
    I'm really trying to think of idioms, too, but there aren't any that I can think of which fit perfectly.

    We'd probably say something like,

    "Person X has so much Y (whatever it is in the context) Y, he/she doesn't know what to do with it/himself/herself",
    "Person X has/gets all the luck",
    "Y (whatever it is) is wasted on Person X".
     
    G

    Giorgio Spizzi

    Senior Member
    Italian
    K. Guinagh, Dictionary of Foreign Phrases and Abbreviations, 3rd ed, The H.W. Wilson Company, New York, 1983.

    "The man who has teeth has no bread, and he who has bread has no teeth."

    Maybe the English version is more palatable?

    Best.

    GS
     
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