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Più che uno che si è fatto da solo, sembra uno che si è fatto da poco

English translation: Not so much a self-made man as a half-made man

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Italian term or phrase:	Più che uno che si è fatto da solo, sembra uno che si è fatto da poco
English translation:	Not so much a self-made man as a half-made man
Entered by:	Vassilios Ikonomidis

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15:26 Jul 13, 2008

Italian to English translations [PRO]
Slang / Slang, Humour

Italian term or phrase: Più che uno che si è fatto da solo, sembra uno che si è fatto da poco

Slang, Humour

Vassilios Ikonomidis KudoZ activity Questions: 40 (none open) Answers: 47 Greece
Local time: 09:02

Not so much a self-made man as a half-made man

Explanation:
A loose translation but I think it conveys the meaning (you might need to substitute person for man)

Selected response from:

Nick Saint John
Italy
Local time: 08:02

Grading comment

Grazie!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +6

Not so much a self-made man as a half-made man

Nick Saint John

Not so much as a self-made man as a still half-unmade man

Fabio Paolo Barbieri

Answers

37 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

Not so much a self-made man as a half-made man

Explanation:
A loose translation but I think it conveys the meaning (you might need to substitute person for man)

Nick Saint John
Italy
Local time: 08:02
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Grazie!

1 day18 hrs confidence:

Not so much as a self-made man as a still half-unmade man

Explanation:
This is not to contradict the previous rendering, but this one seems to me closer to the point. What the witticism says is not that the man is only recently made, as the he is just made, or, alternatively, made out of poor materials - both readings are possible.

Fabio Paolo Barbieri
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:02
Native speaker of: