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ottavi di sfera
larghe intese

Glossary entry

Italiano term or phrase:

sfiga

Inglese translation:

bummer

Added to glossary by angibi
Oct 21, 2009 09:33
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Italiano term

sfiga

Da Italiano a Inglese Altro Linguaggio gergale, Slang
besides "jinx" (which oes not really fit for my context), are there other slang forms?
Proposed translations (Inglese)
5 +4 bummer
3 +3 rotten luck
4 unlucky
4 S.O.L.
4 bollocks/dammit
3 bad luck
3 lousy luck, sod's law
3 damnation
3 serendipshitty

Discussion

Mirra_ Oct 21, 2009:
quando molti pareri concordano quando storicamente e etimologicamente hanno concordato per molti anni, può divenire consuetudine considerare che ci sia una generale concordanza su una determinata interpretazione.

Ovviamente, non si parla di assoluti ma di relatività. E del rispetto elastico della maggioranza, ovvero di democrazia; di morale e di etica.

storia vecchia
che non è così semplice stigmatizzare.
Cedric Randolph Oct 21, 2009:
Volgarità? La volgarità è nella mente di chi la percepisce, non in una parola od un'altra.
potra Oct 21, 2009:
Sfiga Can you provide some context, full sentence?
Mirra_ Oct 21, 2009:
secondo me 'sfiga' *è* volgare. Poi, certo, o tempora o mores, molte volgarità ormai sono divenute normali.<br>ed evito commenti politici...<br>però penso che una sua corretta traduzione dovrebbe comprendere un termine con la stessa origine "volgare"<br>poi angibi ducet, chiaro, visto che è a lei che serve e lei che conosce il contesto<br>però però... :)

ah
last but not leat
UK o US? :)
Marika Costantini Oct 21, 2009:
ok scusa, avevo capito che volevi ricevere solo risposte da madrelingua inglesi :)
angibi (asker) Oct 21, 2009:
Per Marika, forse mi sono espressa male: mi serve la traduzione della parola in inglese, che abbia lo stesso "flavour", cioé con le caratteristiche che ho già indicato (slang, non volgare)...
Marika Costantini Oct 21, 2009:
scusa ma se volevi solo l'opinione di madrelingua inglesi avresti dovuto specificarlo prima di postare la domanda.
angibi (asker) Oct 21, 2009:
sorry, I cannot provide the complete sentence because it is confidential, since it is not public yet
Fiona Grace Peterson Oct 21, 2009:
Sentence Sorry to be picky, but can't you provide the sentence?
angibi (asker) Oct 21, 2009:
Context: it is an ad claim about the bad luck of destroying by mistake a lot of money contained in somebody's jeans by putting them in the washing machine.
I need something "stronger" than "bad luck", but not particularly gross (that is: the translation of "sfiga". I need the opinion of English mother tongues for that!!!
Fiona Grace Peterson Oct 21, 2009:
Agree with Tom I would certainly need more context to provide an appropriate suggestion
Tom in London Oct 21, 2009:
sod I can see nothing vulgar in "sod". Colloquial, certainly, but not offensive, So like all other dictionaries, Hoepli, too, is not beyond dispute :)
angibi (asker) Oct 21, 2009:
me again; to corroborate:
The Hoepli Picchi dictionary does not mark "sfiga" as "vulg" (actually, not even "slang"), while "sod" is marked both as slang and vulgar
Tom in London Oct 21, 2009:
OK OK angibi - although its obscene nuances are still strong, in my opinion. But leaving that aside, I personally would still need more context before being able to make a suggestion
angibi (asker) Oct 21, 2009:
sorry, I meant "I do not need an obscene..."
angibi (asker) Oct 21, 2009:
Tom, I did consider marking it as "potentially offensive", but actually, although this term originated from an obscene word, it has now acquired a much more "neutral" meaning.
Therefore I do not an obscene word in English, but a SLANG "neutral" word, if there is one.
And as for more context, there is none, except that in this case it is "bad luck", but as I said, I need SLANG and only ONE WORD.
Fiona Grace Peterson Oct 21, 2009:
Need more context Without more context it is difficult to provide the correct translation.
Daniel Frisano Oct 21, 2009:
What about providing some context? ?
Tom in London Oct 21, 2009:
it depends on the context there are many possibilities, all of them just as vaguely obscene as the Italian original, which lexicographers avoid as much as they can :) Perhaps you should mark this question as "potentially offensive" since all the English-language possibilities that come to mind tend to be somewhat gross. "Bad luck" just doesn't do it.

Proposed translations

+4
12 min
Selected

bummer

try this
Peer comment(s):
agree claudiocambon : works well in the little bit of context provided
1 ora
Thanks, Claudio
agree Jim Tucker (X)
2 ore
Thanks, Jim
agree Alison Curran
4 ore
Thanks, Allison
agree pitra
12 ore
Thanks, Pitra
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "grazie a tutti! Questo mi sembra il termine che si adatta meglio al mio contesto "
+3
2 min

rotten luck

un'idea..
Peer comment(s):
agree Rachael Alexander : Exactly.
4 min
many thanks!
agree Eleonora Tondon
22 min
grazie eleonora!
agree Ilaria A. Feltre
40 min
grazie ilaria!
Something went wrong...
3 min

unlucky

or other synonyms for unlucky
Something went wrong...
3 min

bad luck

unfortunate
Something went wrong...
4 min

lousy luck, sod's law

Altre trovate.
Something went wrong...
26 min

damnation

another option
Something went wrong...
3 ore

S.O.L.

SOL - (Sh*t out of luck) is another possibility. All depends on exactly what tone you want to achieve though, of course.
Something went wrong...
4 ore

bollocks/dammit

Bollocks is up there with "S*it* (my favorite)

It can be a verb (to break, to make a mess of something) , an interjection...to express anger, frustration etc.
It gives the idea, yet it's not overly vulgar..Hugh Grant says it quite a bit ..usually like "Oh bollocks!"

See the rest here

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bollocks

Dammit is less "vulgar" and quite similar in meaning to "sfiga"

dam⋅mit  /ˈdæmɪt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [dam-it] Show IPA
–interjection Eye Dialect. damn it (used as a mild expletive).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1905–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

dam·mit (dām'ĭt)
interj. Used to express anger, irritation, contempt, or disappointment.

[Alteration of damn it.]


Peer comment(s):
neutral Mirra_ : it defines bad luck R: ahahahahah :))
1 ora
hard to say it in one..not vulgar english word, this is as close as I get..dammit!! :o)
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7 ore

serendipshitty

non so se si adatta bene al tuo contesto, ma è una parola sola, vagamente volgare (come sfiga) e -secondo me- esprime benissimo il concetto di sfiga, nel senso di 'che sfiga' ovvero dell'accadimento negativo che ti sorprende e ti fa rimanere male/arrabbiare...

qualche esempio

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&num=30&q="serend...

Ps. cmq, secondo me - a prescindere dal fatto che sia adatto o meno al tuo contesto - è stu pen do !!! :D
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