Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: U.S. Idioms

Are any of these new to you?
 
1. to be/go through the roof
2. to put a lid on it
3. to have a green thumb
4. to tell (someone) where to get off
5. to worm out of
6. to throw in the towel
7. to be slow on the draw
8. to have/keep a finger in the pie
9. to come down hard on
10. to sell (someone) a bill of goods

 3. to have a green thumb
 
in Italy we say "hai il pollice verde" when you you are very good at 
growing plants
 
-- 
Et interrogabant eum turbae dicentes: “Quid ergo faciemus?”.
Respondens autem dicebat illis: “Qui habet duas tunicas,
det non habenti; et, qui habet escas, similiter faciat”.
(Ev. sec. Lucam 3,10-11)

 10. to sell (someone) a bill of goods
 
 
 
-- 
AIOE ³¿³  

 8. to have/keep a finger in the pie
 
I've only ever heard "to have a finger in every pie"
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 10. to sell (someone) a bill of goods
 
no idea
 

 I've only ever heard "to have a finger in every pie"
 
Got it, in Calabria we say "petrusinu a ogni minestra" (parsley goes in 
every soup)


 every soup)
 
when a man is involved in a lot of situations and activities and you 
meet him everywhere, or he tries to take part in every discussion (in 
this case we say "I give you a hundred liras if you involve me in this 
quarrel" :-)


> 10. to sell (someone) a bill of goods
 
Allora, tutte le altre frasi sono inconosciute a te?

 I've only ever heard "to have a finger in every pie"
 
I have a buddy who has freelanced for many years. He's fond of saying 
that as a freelancer you have to keep a finger in five pies because four 
will fall through and the fifth will come through with a reduced budget.

 no idea
 
To tell an untrue story, to deceive, to lie, or to cheat. Imbrogliare.
 

 Recently, the price of homes in San Francisco has gone through the roof.
 
Alright, here we would say "andare alle stelle" (in reference to cost). 
Il prezzo delle case a S.F. è andato alle stelle.
 
For the rest, thanks :)
 
 

On 20/08/15 22:22, Tony the Ice Man wrote:
 
 >>> 7. to be slow on the draw
 >> I've only ever heard the "quick" version
 >
 > You must hang out with more appreciative people.
 
In that case I'm not sure I'm familiar with either expression
non-literally. I'd say "uptake", not "draw" for what you're saying here.
 
 

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Americans say "uptake," too. I expect that the figurative use of "slow 
on the draw" comes from romantic nostalgia for the Old West.
 
According to a Google search, "Slow on the uptake" is more common with 
384,000 results. "Slow on the draw" gets 64,700 results, but I don't 
know what percentage of them refer to the figurative meaning.
 
Here are some mentions of the figurative use:
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/submission/10457/Slow%20on%20the%20draw
 
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/to-be-a-bit-slow-on-the-draw.980639/
 
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/slow+on+the+draw
 
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110110102409AAu4GmS
 
 
By the way, have you every heard the particularly American expression 
"go postal?" This is another consequence of our gun culture.

 8. to have/keep a finger in the pie
 
In Italy we keep our hands into the (bread/pizza) dough! :)
"avere le mani in pasta" (in qualcosa, in ogni cosa).
 

 "avere le mani in pasta" (in qualcosa, in ogni cosa).
 
Not McKenzie. He's too busy putting parsley in soup. And then there are 
those who always turn up like a bad penny.
 
I mentioned these "sayings" to an editor friend and she criticized me 
for using the word "idioms." They are better called figurative expressions.
 
 

 "avere le mani in pasta" (in qualcosa, in ogni cosa).
 
le mani in pasta in una attività, se è in ogni cosa non rende l'idea
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Allora che cos' è il dito nella torta? Una perversione?
 
Scherzo, ma per chiarezza, "to have/keep your finger in the pie" può 
riferire a una torta sola. Per esempio:
I no longer am a novelist, but I'll occasionally write a short story to 
keep my finger in the pie.
 

 Allora che cos' è il dito nella torta? Una perversione?
 
Let everyone put his finger where he likes :-)


 Allora, tutte le altre frasi sono /inconosciute/ a te?
 
 
Yeppa!
 
:-(
 
Io conosco solo l'inglese scritto e formale (non troppo
letterario), quello parlato e informale moooolto meno.
 
 
(ti sono sconosciute)
 
 
-- 
AIOE ³¿³  

 letterario), quello parlato e informale moooolto meno.
 
Me too.
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 (ti sono sconosciute)
 
Grazie per la correzione. Adesso, ne conosci alcune.
 

 keep my finger in the pie.
 
Ah! Allora "avere le mani in pasta" è un po' diverso. Si possono avere le
mani in pasta in più attività. 
L'espressione viene anche usata con una connotazione negativa, un po' losca.
 
"Ha le mani in pasta in tutti gli affari del comune. Dicono che vuol mettersi 
anche a speculare sulle terre."

 Let everyone put his finger where he likes :-)
 
 
C'era quel filmetto mi pare fosse proprio "American Pie".
 
http://www.ifc.com/fix/2012/04/10-most-hilariously-disgusting-food-moments-in-comedies
 
http://www.hollywood.com/movies/american-pie-and-the-movies-that-ruined-our-favorite-foods-57232022/
 
 
 
 
 
-- 
AIOE ³¿³  

 Me too.
 
 
Non capisco perché si usa il "me" e non l'"I".
 
 
-- 
AIOE ³¿³  

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It's an idiomatic convention and widely accepted but it's not purely 
correct grammatically. If you want to be formally correct, say "I do, too."
 
 

On 22/08/2015 17:04, edevils wrote:
 
 > "Ha le mani in pasta in tutti gli affari del comune. Dicono che vuol 
mettersi
 > anche a speculare sulle terre."
 
Sui terreni...
 
 

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Verga nel 'Mastro Don Gesualdo', da cui ho tratto la frase, però usa "terre".


Ahi, mi sa di aver fatto una figuraccia.
 
Mi suonava male, terre, forse arcaico.