Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: draw the line

Salve,
  ho problemi a tradurre questa frase: "I do love my cat. *I draw the 
line at referring* to myself as her "mom," but she's definitely a member 
of the family."
penso che "draw the line" sia un idioma...
-- 
Alla batteria dai retta, ballA!

 penso che "draw the line" sia un idioma...
Sì. Letteralmente "disegno una linea". Vedilo come un "tirare una riga
sopra". La tipa dice che non esiste proprio (^_^) la possibilità di
conserarsi sua "mamma", ma è definitivamente un membro della (nostra)
famiglia.
Sebastiano

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Non è una spiegazione fuorviante? Per me "to draw the line" significa
tirare una riga, segnare un limite: oltre non si va. Per ciò stesso mi
chiedevo se la frase originale non fosse mal costruita. Mi riferisco alla
preposizione "at".
Bye, FB
-- 
"I don't believe in the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. I just
believe in parties."
(Sex and the City)


Actually  "to draw the line at" is quite correct, see for example this
one  liner by David Letterman.
"President Bush insisted that there was nothing in the August 6th, 2001
briefing, which was titled 'Bin Laden determined to attack the United
States', that hinted what bin Laden was up to. Bush says that he would
have moved mountains to stop the attack. Yeah, but he draws the line at
reading a memo." -David Letterman
more fun with  English can be had here:
http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bl911warnings.htm

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My impression was mistaken, then. I'll tell you that I had first taken the
original sentence to mean "I do consider myself her mum, but I don't go any
further". The Ragazzini confirms your point. In any case this doesn't seem
to stop my feel of "to draw the line" from making sense. I only say so
because I'd be interested to hear if anyone else sees the expression that
way. Furthermore, I wonder how one can say "I do that, but I draw the
line... after that", so to speak. How do you use "to draw the line" telling
how far you'll go, rather than where you'll stop? Suppose you want to say
that you're willing to dance with a woman/man but won't go any further; how
would you fill in "I draw the line ___ dancing" ("I'll talk to you, we'll
dance, and that's where I draw the line"). Is that possible?
Bye, FB
-- 
"Che cos'è un fallo da tergo? E non stiamo parlando della tua vita
privata."
(Intervista della Gialappa's Band a Elisabetta Canalis)

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It's not common, but possible for a woman to draw the line at dancing,
as in " I like to meet young men at the disco, but I draw the line at
dancing with them."
Or a teacher could allow a liberal attitude in his class, but draw the
line at     flirting with class mates.
You certainly remember the fight scene between Tom Sawyer and its rival
(can't think of his name). Tom actually draws a line in the sand (I
believe) with his big  toe challenging his rival to "cross the line".
Anyway I understand your perplexity: English is a foreign language for
us, but some idioms are, how to put it, more foreign than others? "To
draw the line at" certainly fits the bill.
Perhaps it's because in the  Italy of laissez faire we are not used to
draw the line at anything?
Ciao

 challenging his rival to "cross the line".
The drawing of a line in the dirt and daring someone to cross it is most
likely the origin of the phrase 'draw the line'. It is a folk practice that
predates Tom Sawyer.

 preposizione "at".
"oltre non si va" implica che "mum" - nel nostro esempio - sia incluso in
quello che chi parla considera accettabile, e, appunto, oltre il quale non
andare. E invece il considerarsi mamma del gatto č "fuori discussione", non
č incluso in quello che viene considerato fattibile.
Sebastiano

 è incluso in quello che viene considerato fattibile.
Questo lo capisco, anche perché il resto della frase suggerisce chiaramente
che considerarsi la mamma del gatto è escluso ("_but_ she's definitely
..."). Mi riferivo a "to draw the line" ==> "tirare una riga sopra", cioè,
mi pare di capire, "cancellare". Qui funziona, ma mi pare fuorviante. No
big deal... (faccina sorridente)
Ciao, FB
-- 
"Oh oh... Oh my God. My parents are having an affair."
(Gilmore Girls - 512)

 In this case, the implication is that you will not dance with them.
[...]
Bye, FB
-- 
Locked from the inside. That can only mean one thing, and I don't know what
it is.
(Murder by Death)

 draw the line _at_" can easily mean two very different things.
It would make sense to me. The idea is of a barrier, a stop. The common 
interpretation is that the barrier is placed before something, but it's not 
a stretch of the imagination to interpret as after something if the context 
points to that interpretation. 

 big deal... (faccina sorridente)
Ah, ora ho capito. Sorry, avevo letto velocemente.
Sebastiano


Actually "cancellare" would be "to cross out/off". Tirare una riga non
significa necessariamente cancellare, neanche in italiano direi.


What you seem to have in mind here is 'to rule out' (which may be equivalent 
to 'to draw the line *at*' , though they're by no means interchangeable in 
many contexts) .
Mike