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Italian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / buying rights over proper | | Italian term or phrase: coda del pavone | Hello!
I haven't found a simple, reason explanation for the metaphor 'coda del pavone' and the context it is in does little to help.
Ci s’interroga da tempo su cosa sia sbagliato del sistema capitalistico e cosa debba essere salvato, mentre a volte ci si ritrova con idee divergenti tra chi vorrebbe soltanto condannare e chi decantare, e forse la metafora della**coda del pavone**, ci spinge un po’ a pensare a questo dilemma.
A peocock's tail is pretty important for the bird, so I don't think it can be a way of saying it is something that attracts but has little substance (the bird relies on it to father chicks, which is definitely very important in the animal world!)
Any ideas? Does an equivalent expression exist in English?
thank you |
| KreoniaKudoZ activityQuestions: 42 ( 2 open) ( 1 closed without grading) Answers: 0
United Kingdom
| Local time: 04:50
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| | peacock effect | Explanation:
You could have a look here.
The Peacock Effect
The concept of “runaway” selection comes from the field of evolutionary biology, and to explain it, biologists most often cite the peacock’s tail. That ornamental feature has grown ever more flamboyant across the centuries thanks to a simple fact: Peahens show a preference for large-tailed peacocks. In the earliest days of the species, this made sense. A showy tail was a marker of a healthy male that knew how to feed himself. (Think of it as something like a Ferrari—at least before easy credit.) Consequently, well-feathered males had more frequent opportunities to breed and to pass along that trait. The next generation had, on average, larger tails. Initially, this would have weeded out the weak; but after many generations, it created a problem for the strong. That tail is expensive (again, like a Ferrari). It requires nutrients to grow and maintain. And it’s heavy, slowing down its owner (OK, not so much like a Ferrari) and making him easier prey.
Past a certain point, the peacock population began to decline, even as the tails kept getting longer. The Cornell economist Robert Frank, in his book The Darwin Economy, notes how the same phenomenon led to the extinction of a certain large-antlered elk, as its great rack increasingly got caught up in forest branches. Evolutionary theorists say that the species succumbed to “biological suicide”—a fate that might well have claimed the peacock if not for human interventions to prop up a species that was too beautiful to fail.
http://hbr.org/2012/01/runaway-capitalism/ar/1
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Note added at 29 mins (2012-01-29 14:37:33 GMT)
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Also known as "Peacock's tail effect"
http://digilib.lib.unipi.gr/spoudai/bitstream/spoudai/43/1/t... |
| Selected response from:
 Umberto Cassano
Italy
Local time: 05:50
| Grading comment thx
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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26 mins confidence:   peer agreement (net): +3 peacock effect
Explanation:
You could have a look here.
The Peacock Effect
The concept of “runaway” selection comes from the field of evolutionary biology, and to explain it, biologists most often cite the peacock’s tail. That ornamental feature has grown ever more flamboyant across the centuries thanks to a simple fact: Peahens show a preference for large-tailed peacocks. In the earliest days of the species, this made sense. A showy tail was a marker of a healthy male that knew how to feed himself. (Think of it as something like a Ferrari—at least before easy credit.) Consequently, well-feathered males had more frequent opportunities to breed and to pass along that trait. The next generation had, on average, larger tails. Initially, this would have weeded out the weak; but after many generations, it created a problem for the strong. That tail is expensive (again, like a Ferrari). It requires nutrients to grow and maintain. And it’s heavy, slowing down its owner (OK, not so much like a Ferrari) and making him easier prey.
Past a certain point, the peacock population began to decline, even as the tails kept getting longer. The Cornell economist Robert Frank, in his book The Darwin Economy, notes how the same phenomenon led to the extinction of a certain large-antlered elk, as its great rack increasingly got caught up in forest branches. Evolutionary theorists say that the species succumbed to “biological suicide”—a fate that might well have claimed the peacock if not for human interventions to prop up a species that was too beautiful to fail.
http://hbr.org/2012/01/runaway-capitalism/ar/1
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 29 mins (2012-01-29 14:37:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Also known as "Peacock's tail effect"
http://digilib.lib.unipi.gr/spoudai/bitstream/spoudai/43/1/t...
| Umberto Cassano
Italy
Local time: 05:50
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:  Italian
PRO pts in category: 44
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| | | Notes to answerer
Asker: Umberto, your answer is really smack-on the target - the author is commenting on the meyer kirby article!
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The translation workplace 
