GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW) | ||||||
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08:16 Jul 4, 2008 |
Italian to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama | |||||||
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| Selected response from: WendellR Local time: 05:04 | ||||||
Grading comment
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Summary of answers provided | ||||
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5 +10 | I think we're wasting our time/we're at a dead end |
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5 | to fail; to flop |
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4 | we're on a hiding to nothing |
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4 | we're beating the air |
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3 | to draw a blank |
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I think we're wasting our time/we're at a dead end Explanation: Also "we're missing the boat" or "we're barking up the wrong tree" if the sense is that they're on the wrong trail (e.g., looking for the wrong person). If it's simply a matter of "there's nothing here and it's pointless to go on," you can use a number of synonyms: beating a dead horse, beating our heads against a brick wall, etc. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 20 mins (2008-07-04 08:37:01 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- If you want an idiomatic expression to match "buco nell'acqua," best to leave this one to native English speakers. |
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