to do a "bel culo"

English translation: go fuck himself

13:41 Aug 25, 2013

Italian to English translations [Non-PRO]
Social Sciences - Slang

Italian term or phrase: to do a "bel culo"

The term appears in an American novel. An Italian crew is in the US for a land speed record, which they manage to break and later in the evening when they party among themselves they say it:

'The Panzone mechanics and Tonino [the team doctor] toasted one another and Didi [the celebrity racer] in absentia and said the Americans could go do a bel culo. And someone said Didi, too, could go do a bel culo, and then their voices hushed and they were, I imagined, talking politics.'

Now, the plain Italian of "bel culo" seems clear, but in the context of "doing a bel culo" I'm not sure what to make of it. Thanks.

vitaminBcomplex KudoZ activity Questions: 249 (none open) (7 closed without grading) Answers: 0
Local time: 07:45

English translation:go fuck himself

Explanation:
Or "go fuck themselves", depending on who you are referring to.
I think I "prefer" this variant in reported speech; to me "fuck off" is more suited to direct speech, although this is not a hard and fast rule.

I must say I've never discussed the grammatical nuances of swearing; I guess there is a first time for everything!

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Note added at 43 mins (2013-08-25 14:24:10 GMT)
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Just to add... often "less is more" in English, so while Italian may pile on the words to emphasise a particular expression, English is more understated.
A humorous guide of the British love of saying the opposite of what they really mean:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/what-british-people-say-ve...

Selected response from:

Fiona Grace Peterson
Italy
Local time: 06:45

Grading comment

Thank you, Fiona.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +3

go fuck himself

Fiona Grace Peterson

3 +1

Fuck off

Patricia González Schütz

andare a farsi un (bel) culo / un (bel) mazzo

Inter-Tra

go get fucked

cynthiatesser

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Fuck off

Explanation:
I think they mean this:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1398771

Patricia González Schütz
Italy
Local time: 06:45
Native speaker of:

Spanish,

English

38 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

go fuck himself

Fiona Grace Peterson
Italy
Local time: 06:45
Works in field
Native speaker of: English

Grading comment

Thank you, Fiona.

5 hrs confidence:

andare a farsi un (bel) culo / un (bel) mazzo

Explanation:
Lavorare moltissimo
something like:to slog one's guts out; to work one's tail (o butt, volg. ass) off; to bust one's ass (volg.).

I suggest this alternative because idiomatic phrases normally are fixed. Therefore, in the given solution/contexts 'bel' sounds awkward.

Reference: http://it.wiktionary.org/wiki/culo

Inter-Tra
Italy
Local time: 06:45
Native speaker of:

Italian

19 hrs confidence:

go get fucked

Explanation:
the Americans could go get fucked

cynthiatesser
Italy
Local time: 06:45
Native speaker of: Italian

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English translation: go fuck himself

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English translation: go fuck himself

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