Glossary entry

Italian term or phrase:

ci mancherebbe

English translation:

of course

Added to glossary by GillW (MCIL)
Mar 6, 2015 20:23
9 yrs ago
9 viewers *
Italian term

ci mancherebbe

Italian to English Law/Patents Law (general) general discourse
Si si, no era solo per chiarire a lei, ci mancherebbe.

Just something being said by a lawyer in a hearing. Not sure how to translate the 'ci mancherebbe'

TIA

Discussion

Inter-Tra Mar 7, 2015:
tone and pitch of the voice in Italian will lead to the right solution.. Previous lines are essential.
Raffaella Luciani Mar 7, 2015:
Agree with Diana, context is everything and the exchanges leading to "ci mancherebbe" are necessary to assist with suggestions.... If "ci mancherebbe" concludes a clarifying statement, it may also encapsulate a concept that roughly means (very loosely) "God forbid that one may do (think, believe, surmise, etc...) this"..... Again, many possibilities...... Can we have a few lines leading to it?
Lara Barnett Mar 7, 2015:
@ GillW (Asker) Thank you for your response. I was just wondering.
GillW (MCIL) (asker) Mar 7, 2015:
to continue …. nothing in the previous dialogue gives any indication.
GillW (MCIL) (asker) Mar 7, 2015:
Well, it's the meanderings of a lawyer. He is just saying that what he was saying was by way of clarifying things and finishes up by 'ci mancherebbe'.
Tom in London Mar 7, 2015:
Ma per carità, figurarsi, non c'è di che. Etc. Think nothing of it. Not to worry. No problem. Forget about it. Don't give it a moment's thought. Etc, etc, etc.


Lara Barnett Mar 7, 2015:
@ Pompeo My discussion entry was addressed to the asker. If I believe that a better way of expressing an idea in English may be found in the surrounding context, what exactly are the implications of what I have said that you disagree with?
Pompeo Lattanzi Mar 7, 2015:
Dear Lara, I must take exception to the implications of what you say. What you can rightfully say is that YOU could not figure it out.
Lara Barnett Mar 7, 2015:
Context I agree with Diana. This is not enough context for anyone to figure out.
Diana Di Battista Mar 7, 2015:
Needs context Can you provide more context as to the previous dialogue?
The translation of "ci mancherebbe" GREATLY depends on the context and tone. For example, it can be either sarcastic, like "Yeah, that's all we need." As in:
- "I have to pull over, we just got a flat tire..."
- "Is it starting to rain too?"
- "Ci mancherebbe pure..."

Or in response to a thank you, it can be used to mean "Of course! You're welcome! Don't worry about it!" As in
- "Thank you for helping me make dinner"
- "Ci macherebbe!"


Or it could mean "Of course not, don't be ridiculous.", as in
- "Did you buy your husband that chainsaw he wanted for Christmas?"
- "Ci mancherebbe."

So to be sure of how to translate it in your context, we would have to see more of the previous dialogue to know the tone.

Proposed translations

+1
6 hrs
Selected

of course

in this context -

yes, yes, of course I just...

where "of course" implies of course I would never think of doing this (as Pompeo suggested)
Peer comment(s):

agree tradu-grace : "of course" implies of course I would never think of doing this (as Pompeo suggested)
11 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
57 mins

I would never dream of it

It's one of those idiotic/idiomatic phrases you find in every language. Essentially it says: "this would be the cherry on the cake to complete a bad situation/performance".
Here it is used to backtrack fro something he said, which has been negatively interpreted. He's recusing the interpretation, saying it was only to clarify matters, he would never entertain thoughts of insinuating something or insulting somebody.
I put down my first thought, of course you might find/use other better equivalent expressions. This will depend also on the dialogue preceeding this passage. HTH
Peer comment(s):

agree tradu-grace
17 hrs
disagree Diana Di Battista : This translation would not make sense in this context from a native English speaker point of view
1 day 21 mins
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

don't worry about it

another option
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

no doubt

Certainly, it wasn't meant to clarify it only to you, no doubt (about it).

There are many way this could be translated.
In this case I would say: no doubt (about it).
Something went wrong...
15 hrs

obviously

http://www.wordreference.com/iten/ci mancherebbe

Here are several examples of the use of the experssion.
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