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15:04 May 23, 2011
Italian to English translations [Non-PRO] Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Italian term or phrase:Stiamo dando i numeri
From a set of survey responses for an advert focus group; here is the context:
"Stiamo dando i numeri! adesso vogliono farci comperare XXXXXXXXXXXXXX! non sanno più come fare per farci spendere soldi in cose superflue."
Explanation: As I pointed out in the above discussion, it's better not to use 'we' in a sentence like this and translate the feeling with a more general sentence like "This is madness" or similar, instead.
The Italian expression 'stiamo dando i numeri' should be read as 'stanno dando i numeri', talking about other people whose ideas the speaker doesn't like at all. ;)
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 15 ore (2011-05-24 06:14:00 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Just to clarify this a little bit more, 'dare i numeri' means a lot of things: to ramble, to talk nonsense, to say something absurd/unacceptable/unreasonable, to lose it, to go bonkers/berserk, etc.
In this case, the speaker is venting his feelings and expressing his anger at someone (a person, a company, a TV commercial) who's trying to sell the umpteenth useless stuff, so I'd go for an expression like 'this is madness/crazy/absurd' in order to convey the right feeling of annoyance.
Thanks SYLVY75; this one seems to fit best for my context. All the other responses were good, and between those and the discussion entries, I have a much better idea of the idiom's meaning. This page should definitely be a good resource for anyone searching the phrase in the future. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
Exactly, Jim. The Italian expression 'stiamo dando i numeri' should be read as 'stanno dando i numeri', talking about other people whose ideas the speaker doesn't like at all. ;)
I've hidden my answer. Isn't the sense, not so much that we are going crazy, but rather an ironic "they are going crazy" (being so silly as) to tryto make us buy xxx?
Explanation: As I pointed out in the above discussion, it's better not to use 'we' in a sentence like this and translate the feeling with a more general sentence like "This is madness" or similar, instead.
The Italian expression 'stiamo dando i numeri' should be read as 'stanno dando i numeri', talking about other people whose ideas the speaker doesn't like at all. ;)
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 15 ore (2011-05-24 06:14:00 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Just to clarify this a little bit more, 'dare i numeri' means a lot of things: to ramble, to talk nonsense, to say something absurd/unacceptable/unreasonable, to lose it, to go bonkers/berserk, etc.
In this case, the speaker is venting his feelings and expressing his anger at someone (a person, a company, a TV commercial) who's trying to sell the umpteenth useless stuff, so I'd go for an expression like 'this is madness/crazy/absurd' in order to convey the right feeling of annoyance.
SYLVY75 Italy Local time: 19:57 Works in field Native speaker of: Italian
Grading comment
Thanks SYLVY75; this one seems to fit best for my context. All the other responses were good, and between those and the discussion entries, I have a much better idea of the idiom's meaning. This page should definitely be a good resource for anyone searching the phrase in the future.
The translation workplace 
