Whipping Boy

danalto

Senior Member
Italy - Italian
Hi, all!
I sometimes translated this idiom with "capro espiatorio", but I really don't like it in this sentence...:(
Any better ideas?


(Oh, well, I really should tell you this is the dialogue of a telefilm, so much more different from a "static" translation,)

thnxs
 
  • Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    danalto said:
    Hi, all!
    I sometimes translated this idiom with "capro espiatorio", but I really don't like it in this sentence...:(
    Any better ideas?


    (Oh, well, I really should tell you this is the dialogue of a telefilm, so much more different from a "static" translation,)

    thnxs
    If I'm not wrong "capro espiatorio" is "scapegoat" (but today I'm causing a lot of confusion throuout the forum:eek: so I'm not so reliable) but it can also be translated with "whipping boy" so I think you are right.
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    danalto said:
    Oh, well, thank you for your...er...explanation...now I'm DA CAPO A DODICI.
    (so, come on, translate this idiom for our friends! LOL)
    ahahahahah
    really funny...
    mumble mumble....
    I'm at point 12 again... how's that?
     

    danalto

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    Back to my whipping boy, if I only could use a very, very (let's be honest, VERY :p) vulgar Italian idiom, I'll write "How come (Come mai) Sam became the whipping boy for this (se l'è presa in quel posticino...)"?
    But I can't do that! Rai docet (this is latin, boys...)

    ciuz
    dan :D
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    ok
    come mai Sam è diventato il capro espiatorio della situazione?
    oppppppure come mai Sam è stato usato come capro espiatorio della situazione

    cosa c'è che ti suona strano...
    ovviamente il senso è qello che hai "velatamente" lasciato intendere
     

    danalto

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    Maybe i could say "Come mai Sam è stato messo in mezzo"...but it is way too colloquial...I'm afraid...
    Come mai Sam è stato coinvolto in questa storia? Easier and maybe the better choice?

    (Sam went to prison instead of another man...)
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    danalto said:
    "pedina sacrificale"? Ommioddio, qst non la conoscevo!
    lieto di stupirti...:D
    cmq resto dell'idea che capro espiatorio o vittima sacrificale (visto che non ti piaciono gli scacchi) ci sta bene
     

    danalto

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    I know it hasn't the same meaning, but "capro espiatorio" was just a makeshift...
    And what are you complaining about? :D We jumped at the same conclusion, didn't we? And now I'm going to make a nice, hot, black Italian coffeee...alla faccia vostra!!
    ALFRY, TRANSLATE THIS PLS ;)
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    I'd prefer an aspirina. Doctors say that coffee and headaches don't get along well each other.
    arrrgh... difficult to translate.... I give up
     

    danalto

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    Naah, easy!
    IN SPITE OF YOU!


    (HEADACHE? Put your thumbs at the nape of your head - you should find a sort of hollows just at the base of the skull...PUSH HARD! It aches, but your headache will go away...)

    oooppps did I jump in the wrong forum???
     

    danalto

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    Me? No...have a look at my profile, there are two links one in Engl and one in Italian...go there and find out about myself...hoping this will be interesting for you :eek:
     

    carlafed

    Senior Member
    Italian
    Molto interessante la tua intervista, Daniela
    Sono sempre stata molto curiosa di come fanno i traduttori a "far entrare nella bocca degli attori" i discorsi in un'altra lingua ;) :D
    Ma il secondo link http://www.savelfn.org/section/archive/
    mi porta a una directory listing ... peccato
    Ciao :) :) :)
    Carla

    p.s. Pare che per certi tipi di mal di testa il caffè sia un toccasana. Per me non funziona per niente, ma mi hanno detto addirittura che molte medicine contro il mal di testa contengono caffeina. Boh!
     

    danalto

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    alfry...una tazza di me? ;)

    Carla, grazie! Ma PLEASE non chiamare mai traduttore un dialoghista! DEADLY SIN!
    In effetti nn sono riuscita a postare il secondo link al completo -alfry, se nn ho letto male tu dovresti essere un esperto del ramo, any tips? :) -
    Non so se posso postare il link intero qui. Infrangerei qualche regola? HELP!
    Let me know, and I'll do it!

    dan:D
     

    DDT

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    danalto said:
    Hi, all!
    I sometimes translated this idiom with "capro espiatorio", but I really don't like it in this sentence...:(
    Any better ideas?


    (Oh, well, I really should tell you this is the dialogue of a telefilm, so much more different from a "static" translation,)

    thnxs

    Well, "capro espiatorio" s a good way to render it. Since it's not that suitable, what about "quello che ci rimette sempre"?

    DDT
     

    carlafed

    Senior Member
    Italian
    danalto said:
    alfry...una tazza di me? ;)

    Ma PLEASE non chiamare mai traduttore un dialoghista! DEADLY SIN!


    dan:D
    oops... scusa sorry :(
    devo spargermi il capo di cenere?
    :eek: :eek:
    Ho capito perfettamente la differenza.
    Però non siete un tantinello permalosi voi intellettuali di successo? ;) ;) ;)

    buona serata !
     

    Silvia

    Senior Member
    Italian
    How come Sam became the whipping boy for this?

    Come mai Sam è passato per colpevole del fatto?

    Something like that... if you really want to avoid "capro espiatorio"
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    danalto said:
    alfry, se nn ho letto male tu dovresti essere un esperto del ramo, any tips? :) -

    dan:D
    naaaaa, non mi piace fare il giardiniere ;)

    in effetti non ho capito quale sia il problema....
    il secondo link che non va?
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    carlafed said:
    oops... scusa sorry :(
    devo spargermi il capo di cenere?
    :eek: :eek:
    Ho capito perfettamente la differenza.
    Però non siete un tantinello permalosi voi intellettuali di successo? ;) ;) ;)

    buona serata !
    well...
    bella anche questa della cenere

    come si tradurrà
    cospargersi il capo di cenere?
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    forse il campo biography è limitato ad un certo numero di byte per cui non si può fare nulla a meno che l'admin. non lo allarghi
     

    danalto

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    alfry said:
    forse il campo biography è limitato ad un certo numero di byte per cui non si può fare nulla a meno che l'admin. non lo allarghi
    beh, la trovi una soluzione del genere "ah, voi donne siete tutte uguali" quella di levare HTTP:// e lasciare solo WWW? :D così c'entra tutto il link!
     

    danalto

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    Soooooo what? I still have to dress myself, go out, take my bike, look for a bookshop, buy the book, and go to school! :cool:


    Oh, BTW, do you by any chance know a good school? ;)
     

    danalto

    Senior Member
    Italy - Italian
    Why? Any tips about OTHER schools, alfry?

    (sriously, I really don't need to go to school, well...if I just had time...a nice word I never find in my personal Dictionary...)
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    no... I didnt understand
    I never attended to an English school...
    what I know is due only to my experience... infact I'm far from being flawless
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    perfetto.... si il senso è cmq simile...
    adesso belle signore devo andare...
    a dopo...
    it was a privilege
     

    lsp

    Senior Member
    NY
    US, English
    spargermi il capo di cenere... spread cinder on one's head... this is apparently not one of those sayings that translates literally. I still don't get it exactly. What's the sense of it, when is it used...? Maybe we have something equivalent in English.
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    when you make a blunder, or an error you say that you spread cinder on your head (in Italian)
    maybe it has something to do with ancient times... but I don't know it precisely, maybe something to say, sorry I made an error and I concede that.
     

    lsp

    Senior Member
    NY
    US, English
    Here's an english equilvalent that hasn't been around very long that means "Sorry I made an error and I concede that." N.B. it's very colloquial and doesn't fit it every situation or group... "My bad."
     

    Alfry

    Senior Member
    Italian
    thanks to google I found that the cinder was an outcome of the fire, the fire is purifying so to spread cinder on one's head is the a symbol for purification, penance.

    it was an habit described in the Old Testament
     
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