l'è la naja

English translation: that's military service / army life for you

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Italian term or phrase:l'è la naja
English translation:that's military service / army life for you
Entered by: Russell Jones

12:56 Jan 9, 2011
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Slang
Italian term or phrase: l'è la naja
This is a Lombard expression with a literal meaning of (I think) "it's National Service". It occurs in a traditional Alpini song - "Finida l'è la naja/ a casa a divertir".
However, it seems to have been an expression used in everyday conversation or backchat between the troops and I wonder if anyone can throw any further light on it to help me find a suitable equivalent.
Russell Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:01
that is military service for you
Explanation:
often said with a tone of resignation
Selected response from:

Marco Solinas
Local time: 19:01
Grading comment
Thank you all for your helpful contributions, especially Ilaria and Maurizio. In the end, Marco's independent corroboration of my thoughts proved the most useful.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1that's life in the pongos / life as a sprog
Thomas Roberts
3 +1that is military service for you
Marco Solinas
4it's the effing army life!
BdiL
3conscription
Maria Vita Licata
3conscription is over
Science451
3well that's the army for ya/ that's military life/ that's life in the army
Kelly Gill
2nasho
David Turnbull
1 +1that's the brown job for you
Ilaria A. Feltre


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
conscription


Explanation:
naja=leva=conscription. I don't know a "slag" name for it, but you maybe try -depending on what "sound2 you aim to get- with army or troop....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2011-01-09 14:16:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

...pardon me Slang not slag;-)

Maria Vita Licata
Local time: 03:01
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 3
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
conscription is over


Explanation:
Italian
Noun
naja f. sg. only

1.(slang) compulsory military service; draft, conscription



    Reference: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/naja
    Reference: http://www.google.it/#hl=it&biw=994&bih=531&rlz=1W1GGLJ_it&q...
Science451
Italy
Local time: 03:01
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian
Notes to answerer
Asker: I'm afraid I know all that. I'm looking for a phrase that can be regularly thrown in to soldiers' conversation. The "finita" is not part of it.

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
that is military service for you


Explanation:
often said with a tone of resignation

Marco Solinas
Local time: 19:01
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you all for your helpful contributions, especially Ilaria and Maurizio. In the end, Marco's independent corroboration of my thoughts proved the most useful.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Marco. Your answer wasn't there when I posted my last discussion entry but it see it was timed previously. I shall hope to see some Agrees, though a more colloquial version is probably too much to expect!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Kelly Gill: well that's the army for ya/ that's military life
7 hrs
  -> I like them both. You ought to enter them as an answer.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
naja
nasho


Explanation:
"Nasho" is widely used in Australia as slang for national service.

http://bit.ly/eDcnwY

Whether it will fit into your text and be clear enough for readers is up to you.


David Turnbull
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:01
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5 peer agreement (net): +1
that's the brown job for you


Explanation:
I'm not familiar with the term, hence the low confidence level, but after some research, I seem to understand that "brown job" is slang for army... Maybe other ProZ can give an opinion on the matter? :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2011-01-09 14:52:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Reference:

http://www.royalmarinesbands.co.uk/reference/Slang.htm

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2011-01-09 17:04:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks Russell... You're quite right, unfortunately! :D

Ilaria A. Feltre
Malta
Local time: 03:01
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian
Notes to answerer
Asker: Nice idea Ilaria - and probably contemporary with the period. Unfortunately it would not be familiar to most people today and risks confusion with current "lavatorial" expressions.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  zerlina: nn lo so neanch'io, ma sei l'unica che ha cercato nella buona direzione:-)
1 hr
  -> Grazie Zerlina, ora vediamo se qualche altro ProZ può confermare...
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

16 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
well that's the army for ya/ that's military life/ that's life in the army


Explanation:
An alternative to Marco's "that is military service for you"


Kelly Gill
Italy
Local time: 03:01
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
that's life in the pongos / life as a sprog


Explanation:
There won't be a direct alternative clearly as national service is a distant memory in the UK.

If it's really a slang term you are looking for, rather than a straight translation as military service, then I would suggest sprog (new recruit) or pongos (army).



Thomas Roberts
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  R.C. (X): SO it would sound smtg like.... "pongos' over guys.... all home for some fun/all home and enjoy!" or smtg like that?
8 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 day 3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
it's the effing army life!


Explanation:
(pls see discussion entry).

Maurizio

BdiL
Italy
Local time: 03:01
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 4
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search