Aug 15, 2015 14:20
8 yrs ago
Italian term
isolare in bolle di sapone
Italian to English
Other
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
central figures in the industrial revolution of Italy
I guess this is an Italian idiom and while I kind of get the meaning, I can't think of an equivalent idiom in English... can anyone suggest one? Thanks, all.
Context: contribution to a book on Arturo Malignani and his contribution to industrial progress in Italy - most particularly with regards to electricity.
Sentence: "Non possiamo isolare in bolle di sapone (personaggio 'x') e (personaggio 'y'). Detto che sono dei geni, sono figli della loro epoca, solo che hanno capito e interpretato più e meglio di altri una tendenza che spingeva in quella direzione".
Context: contribution to a book on Arturo Malignani and his contribution to industrial progress in Italy - most particularly with regards to electricity.
Sentence: "Non possiamo isolare in bolle di sapone (personaggio 'x') e (personaggio 'y'). Detto che sono dei geni, sono figli della loro epoca, solo che hanno capito e interpretato più e meglio di altri una tendenza che spingeva in quella direzione".
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +1 | we cannot consider x and y as isolated and ephemeral phenomena |
James (Jim) Davis
|
Proposed translations
+1
16 hrs
James (Jim) Davis
Seychelles
Seychelles
Native in English
Seychelles
25 years experience constantly improving
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: Italian to English
Related KudoZ points
:
30
Selected
we cannot consider x and y as isolated and ephemeral phenomena
Might add "leaving no trace"
The metaphor of a "bolla di sapone" is very common in Italian as something which is here one minute and gone the next. So here the author is clearly saying that these were not people to be seen separately from the time in which they lived as ephemeral phenomena which came and went leaving no trace.
I don't think the same metaphor can be used in English, because its use is too rare. I can only think of the song, "I'm forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air... " adopted by the West Ham football club.
The metaphor of a "bolla di sapone" is very common in Italian as something which is here one minute and gone the next. So here the author is clearly saying that these were not people to be seen separately from the time in which they lived as ephemeral phenomena which came and went leaving no trace.
I don't think the same metaphor can be used in English, because its use is too rare. I can only think of the song, "I'm forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air... " adopted by the West Ham football club.
Note from asker:
| Thanks Jim... yes, as i said in my discussion comment, I think it means that they were products of their time (therefore not immensely different from their peers/or from each other, for that matter) but it would be good if I could come up with something similar in English ( I agree not soap bubbles!!) |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, again."
Discussion