Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Italian term or phrase:
animali da salotto
English translation:
members of the elite clutch of power brokers
Added to glossary by
Therese Marshall
Apr 6, 2015 07:28
9 yrs ago
Italian term
animali da salotto
Italian to English
Art/Literary
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Book on interviews of foreign press correspondents on the subject of Italy
«i ricchi hanno dei comportamenti completamente diversi dai poveri. Qui in Italia invece, e anche nel film di Sorrentino, i comportamenti di un uomo ricchissimo e quelli di un operaio di Centocelle sono simili». Naturalmente la figura della Santa nel film La grande bellezza non è sfuggita a Carmen. «La vecchia missionaria viene invitata nel salotto del protagonista sperando che gli ospiti possano ottenere un qualche beneficio dalla sua santità. Tutti cercano la redenzione, anche se non hanno alcuna intenzione sincera di abbracciare la santità. Sono dei perfetti animali da salotto. È un riflesso della politica italiana, una chiacchiera continua, senza sostanza e reale intenzione di migliorare».
Here I wasn't quite sure about something along the lines of "domestic pets"....any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Here I wasn't quite sure about something along the lines of "domestic pets"....any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+1
40 mins
Selected
members of the elite clutch of power brokers
The "salotto buono" refers to the elite clutch of industrial, financial, and political power brokers who have dominated Italy since WWII. You might also think of them as "members of the old-boys' club". The sense it that they are members of the "power elite"
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Note added at 1 hr (2015-04-06 09:01:03 GMT)
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You might say something like "they are perfect examples of the old boy club"
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Note added at 23 hrs (2015-04-07 06:51:11 GMT)
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Having read the paragraph again I thought you might use the expression "power seekers"
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Note added at 1 hr (2015-04-06 09:01:03 GMT)
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You might say something like "they are perfect examples of the old boy club"
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Note added at 23 hrs (2015-04-07 06:51:11 GMT)
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Having read the paragraph again I thought you might use the expression "power seekers"
Example sentence:
Many believe there was great force in the lead given by 73-year-old Zaleski, who has long been notoriously and gloriously an outsider to Italy's salotto buono or the elite clutch of industrial, financial, and political power brokers that have controlled I
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Peter Cox
20 hrs
|
neutral |
Pompeo Lattanzi
: The "salotto buono" is exactly what you indicate in your suggestion, but I do not think it applies here.
1 day 2 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
8 mins
domestici animals
...
6 hrs
partisan pets
To show the political aspect (partisan) and to show they have their own agenda (not really interested in holiness but rather redemption in this case).
+1
8 hrs
drawing room creatures
see for example
The Line of Beauty: Picador Classic - Page 371 - Google Books Result
https://books.google.it/books?isbn=1447275195
Alan Hollinghurst - 2014 - Art
... drawing room, and they chatted as if they were all guests, happily denatured, transformed by silk and velvet, jewels and makeup, into drawing-room creatures.
Tales of English Eccentrics - Page 163 - Google Books Result
https://books.google.it/books?isbn=0953892247
Tony Grumley-Grennan
However her skill as a powerboat racer at a time when women, however rich, were more usually seen as simply beautiful drawing room creatures, deserves a ...
p.184-5. Tritons: A Novel - Forgotten Books
www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/Tritons_1000113353/185
... wit and intelligence enough to furnish out half a dozen drawing-room creatures. ... asked Ralph, with a ' little scoffing laugh; " a set of corrupt politicians, venal ...
The Line of Beauty: Picador Classic - Page 371 - Google Books Result
https://books.google.it/books?isbn=1447275195
Alan Hollinghurst - 2014 - Art
... drawing room, and they chatted as if they were all guests, happily denatured, transformed by silk and velvet, jewels and makeup, into drawing-room creatures.
Tales of English Eccentrics - Page 163 - Google Books Result
https://books.google.it/books?isbn=0953892247
Tony Grumley-Grennan
However her skill as a powerboat racer at a time when women, however rich, were more usually seen as simply beautiful drawing room creatures, deserves a ...
p.184-5. Tritons: A Novel - Forgotten Books
www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/Tritons_1000113353/185
... wit and intelligence enough to furnish out half a dozen drawing-room creatures. ... asked Ralph, with a ' little scoffing laugh; " a set of corrupt politicians, venal ...
+1
1 day 41 mins
schmoozers
These people are "consummate schmoozers" (perfetti animali da salotto) in the sense that they know how to keep in with the great and the good on social occasions.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Pompeo Lattanzi
: I find this "slang" word possibly the perfect rendition.
2 hrs
|
1 day 12 hrs
lapdogs
This is just another option. It can mean subservient and wanting to please, but not necessarily sincere.
Discussion