English expressions that confound Italians

Posted on November 28, 2019 by babbityjean

Idiomatic expressions can be difficult for students of any language; they can be confusing, confounding, and simple to mess up, sometimes with funny or embarrassing results.  Here are several English expressions that cannot be translated into Italian with the same meaning.  The origins are surprising even for some English-language speakers.

Break a leg

When you tell someone in English to break a leg, you are wishing that person good luck.  The ironic expression is used mainly in the theater.  According to most superstitions, a simple good luck in that context would have the opposite effect.  While rich in theories that date back to ancient Greece, the origin is uncertain.  One of the most credible refers to the line that divided the stage from behind the scenes, which was known as the leg or leg line.  To overcome (break) it meant to be part of the show, performing in front of the audience, and, consequently, to be paid.  In Italy, you should avoid saying “good luck” as in buona fortuna; it’s better to say in bocca al lupo “in the mouth of the wolf.”  (See the January 3, 2019 post on superstitions.)

Get the wrong end of the stick

Getting the wrong end of the stick means getting a bad deal, or sometimes misunderstanding an action or situation, often with unpleasant consequences.  The saying refers to walking sticks, in particular, the end that rests on the ground, which is often dirty and covered with mud.  According to some, the expression comes from an object used in Roman times:  a stick with a piece of fabric at the end that was once used in public baths instead of toilet paper.  Taking it from the wrong side was certainly was not pleasant.  The closest Italian expression is prendere fischi per fiaschi, “take whistles for flasks,” which means to exchange one thing for another not necessarily with dire consequences.  For example, if you are in Italy and ordered a pizza margherita and the waiter brought you instead a pizza capricciosa, you might say il cameriere ha preso fischi per fiaschi!”

It’s raining cats and dogs

This expression came from the old custom of having dogs and cats rest on the roofs of houses during the cold season.  When it rained heavily, the animals found it difficult to stay balanced or anchored to the roof and, as a result, they sometimes feel to the ground scaring those who walked along the sidewalks or roadsides.  The most similar expression in Italian is piove a dirotto or piove a catinelle, which simply suggests it’s raining “copiously” or “basins full.”

It’s not my cup of tea

Born in the nineteenth century, this expression is linked to the British tradition of five o’clock tea.  At first it was in the positive sense to indicate something really appreciated or suitable.  In the twenties in the twentieth century, the denial was added to indicate that something is not for us or does not matter.  The most similar Italian expression is non andare a genio as in questa tua idea non mi va a genio, or “this idea of yours doesn’t suit me or doesn’t sit well with me.”

Get your ducks in a row

The expression seems to have originated in the 1970s in shooting ranges, which ducks were used as targets to train people on the use of firearms.  Having all the ducks in a row meant being ready to shoot.  The most similar Italian expression is fare mente locale, which means to eliminate all other thoughts and to concentrate on a situation or topic.  For example, if you are late and can’t find your wallet, you will fare mente locale to try to remember where you last saw it.

Feeling under the weather

This saying is almost always used to indicate a real physical illness, perhaps the beginning of a cold or flu, or when you are really tired; in some cases, it can indicate a mood or general malaise.  The expression may have originated on English ships that sailed the ocean; when someone on board fell ill, the contagion often hit many sailors.  The ship diaries couldn’t accommodate all the surnames and hence were written in the column dedicated to weather conditions; that is, they were written “under the weather.”  The most similar Italian expression is essere giù di corda, literally “to be out of rope,” meaning to be worn out or down in the dumps.

Knock on wood

People who rap their knuckles on a piece of wood are hoping to stave off bad luck.  It might be spoken when a person is already experiencing some good fortune and does not want to tempt fate.  The origin is linked to popular folklore which included rituals involving spirits of sacred trees.  When looking for a bit of luck or a blessing it was necessary to wake up the benign spirits inside the trees by knocking on the trunk.  In Italy, the expression is toccare ferro, that is, “to touch iron.”

Posted in Abitudini, Differenze culturali, English, Italia, Storia | Leave a comment

I senzatetto malati di mente

Posted on November 21, 2019 by babbityjean

La sala conferenze di Trieste è divenuta silenziosa. I partecipanti non potevano credere ai loro occhi. Sullo schermo c’erano le foto di una parte degli abitanti di Hollywood che vivevano per strada, rannicchiati sotto le coperte e coperti di sporcizia. I loro problemi mentali e di dipendenza erano evidenti. Le foto raffiguravano lo status dei senzatetto di Hollywood e di Los Angeles, dove un quarto hanno malattie mentali e migliaia vengono continuamente trascinati dalle strade alle carceri, agli ospedali e di nuovo in strada. Una media di 3 muore ogni giorno. Circa 5.000 malati di mente sono in galera. Ciò accade nel paese più ricco del pianeta, nel ventre della capitale del cinema e dell’immaginazione.

Il Los Angeles Times ha recentemente raccontato la storia di una donna che si chiama Kerry Morrison che aveva visto abbastanza. Ha lasciato il lavoro per dedicarsi a tempo pieno, non retribuito, alla sua causa. È entrata a far parte di consigli di amministrazione, ha contattato professionisti di salute mentale, ha studiato la politica sulla salute mentale, ciò che è andato storto negli Stati Uniti e ha controllato i programmi in altre città degli Stati Uniti e in Europa. È stato il suo viaggio a Trieste, nel nord-est italiano, a trasformare la sua disperazione in speranza. A Trieste ha trovato un modello di salute mentale in cui ogni paziente è curato e nessuno rimane solo a se stesso.

Quando i manicomi, cioè gli ospedali psichiatrici, furono chiuse in Italia, circa 40 anni fa, Trieste si rinnovò, mentre gli Stati Uniti rinunciarono alla promessa di cliniche comunitarie. Sotto la guida di uno psichiatra di nome Franco Basaglia, Trieste costruì una rete coordinata di centri di trattamento, abbracciò i pazienti come membri a pieno titolo della comunità, invitò i familiari a partecipare al recupero, costruì relazioni con i datori di lavoro che ricoveravano i pazienti, senza lasciare che la burocrazia o i problemi di fatturazione sabotassero i buoni risultati.

Quando qualcuno ha un episodio psicotico a Trieste e c’è una richiesta di aiuto, di solito risponde una squadra di salute mentale, non la polizia, e la squadra spesso ha già costruito un rapporto con il cliente. Le porte delle strutture per la salute mentale della comunità a Trieste non sono chiuse; se i pazienti scelgono di andarsene, i membri del personale si tengono in contatto con loro in caso hanno bisogno di aiuto. I ricoveri involontari sono rari; quando le persone hanno facile accesso alle cure regolari e iniziano a conoscere e fidarsi degli operatori sanitari, sono più facili da trattare. Hanno meno probabilità di resistere alla terapia e alla medicina, e le loro condizioni hanno meno probabilità di peggiorare.

La signora Morrison ha portato una delegazione di rappresentanti della salute mentale e rappresentanti del governo per osservare da vicino il sistema a Trieste. In cinque giorni, non hanno visto un solo senzatetto a Trieste, una città che non ha un significativo abuso di droga. Sarà estremamente impegnativo portare il modello di Trieste a Los Angeles, dove così tante persone con gravi malattie mentali hanno anche dipendenze debilitanti … e tenda lungo le strade (se fortunati). I finanziamenti e la carenza di personale sono ostacoli considerevoli. “Abbiamo 40 volte la popolazione di Trieste e 50 volte le sfide in più”, ha dichiarato la Morrison.

Ma lei è imperterrita. La delegazione di Los Angeles inizierà con un progetto pilota. Richiederà almeno un anno di pianificazione: identificazione di centri di cura urgenti e di salute della comunità, reclutamento di imprese che partecipino per convincere i residenti che i miglioramenti diventeranno un vantaggio per la comunità stessa, assumendo medici e altro personale,  e trovando abbastanza alloggi per dare al progetto una possibilità di riuscita.

Posted in Abitudini, California, Differenze culturali, Italia, Italiano, La Gente, Medicina, Trieste | 1 Comment

The homeless mentally ill

Posted on November 21, 2019 by babbityjean

The conference room in Trieste fell silent.  Attendees couldn’t believe their eyes.  On the big screen were photos of Hollywood residents living in the street, huddled under blankets and covered with grime.  Their mental and addiction problems were evident.  The photos depicted the status of the homeless in Hollywood and greater Los Angeles where one quarter have mental illnesses, and thousands are endlessly shuffled from streets to jails to hospitals and back to the street again.  An average of 3 die every day.  About 5,000 mentally ill people are locked up in jails at any given time.  In the richest country on the planet, this was the underbelly of the capital of film and imagination.

The Los Angeles Times recently told the story of a woman named Kerry Morrison who had seen enough.  She quit her job to devote full-time, unpaid, to her cause.  She joined boards, reached out to mental health professionals, researched mental health policy and what went wrong in the United States, and checked out programs in other U.S. cities and in Europe.  It was her trip to Trieste in NE Italy that turned her despair into hope.  In Trieste she found a mental health model in which every patient was looked after and no one was left to pitch a tent and fend for himself.

When mental institutions were closed in Italy and the United States about 40 years ago, Trieste innovated while the U.S. abdicated on the promise of community clinics.  Under the leadership of a psychiatrist named Franco Basaglia, Trieste built a coordinated network of treatment centers, embraced patients as full-fledged members of the community, invited family members to participate in recovery, built relationships with employers who hired patients, and didn’t let bureaucracy or billing entanglements sabotage good outcomes.

When someone has a psychotic episode in Trieste and there’s a call for help, usually a mental health team responds, not the police, and the team often has already built a relationship with the client.  The doors of community mental health facilities in Trieste are not locked; if patients choose to leave, staff members keep in contact with them to be sure they remain connected to help.  Involuntary commitments are rare; when people have easy access to regular care and begin to know and trust health care providers, they are easier to treat.  They are less likely to resist therapy and medication, and their conditions are less likely to deteriorate.

Ms. Morrison brought a delegation of mental health and government representatives to observe the system in Trieste.  In five days, there they didn’t see a single homeless person in Trieste, a city that also does not have a significant drug epidemic.  It will be extremely challenging to bring Trieste’s model to Los Angeles where so many with serious mental illness also have debilitating addictions…and live in tents (if they’re lucky) on the street.  Funding and staff shortages are major obstacles. “We have 40 times the population of Trieste and 50 times the challenges,” Morrison stated.

But she is undaunted.  The Los Angeles delegation will start with a pilot project.   It will involve at least a year of planning—identifying urgent care and community health centers, recruiting businesses to participate, convincing residents that improvements will become a community asset, hiring clinicians and outreach teams, and finding enough housing to give the pilot a fighting chance.

Posted in Abitudini, California, Differenze culturali, English, Italia, La Gente, Medicina, Trieste | 1 Comment