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  3. Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

il limone da spremere fino in fondo

English translation: a cow to be milked bone dry

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Italian term or phrase:il limone da spremere fino in fondo
English translation:a cow to be milked bone dry
Entered by: Jenny Cowd

09:35 Apr 2, 2007
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / tourism
Italian term or phrase: il limone da spremere fino in fondo
il turista che pernotta a Venezia è .....
Jenny Cowd
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:05
a cow to milk
Explanation:
or a cash cow to milk.
These phrases give many google hits.

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Note added at 33 mins (2007-04-02 10:09:02 GMT)
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I am adding 2 examples of the usage of the above-mentioned metaphor.
1. "...it can create a mindset where the client is just a cow to milk.."
http://giorgiobuccilli.squarespace.com/articoli/rss.xml
2. "Otherwise we will become a cow to milk, to satisfy every demand..."
www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/34th3rd/34p_03s_890322p.htm
Selected response from:

Pnina
Israel
Local time: 07:05
Grading comment
thanks everyone, I like the feather option too, irenef.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5a cow to milk
Pnina
4 +4(the tourist) will be milked bone dry/is a cow to milk bone dry
Giles Watson
4tourists who... will find their wallets squeezed dry
Denise DeVries
3(tourists)... are bound to get ripped off royally
irenef


  

Answers


17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
(tourists)... are bound to get ripped off royally


Explanation:
will try and think of more ways of saying this...

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Note added at 21 mins (2007-04-02 09:57:03 GMT)
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plucked to their last feather?...

irenef
Local time: 06:05
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
a cow to milk


Explanation:
or a cash cow to milk.
These phrases give many google hits.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 33 mins (2007-04-02 10:09:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I am adding 2 examples of the usage of the above-mentioned metaphor.
1. "...it can create a mindset where the client is just a cow to milk.."
http://giorgiobuccilli.squarespace.com/articoli/rss.xml
2. "Otherwise we will become a cow to milk, to satisfy every demand..."
www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/34th3rd/34p_03s_890322p.htm

Pnina
Israel
Local time: 07:05
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in HebrewHebrew
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
thanks everyone, I like the feather option too, irenef.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  irenef: good one, although the original expression has a more negative connotation. Sto bene, grazie. Ogni tanto, mi faccio viva... A presto!
11 mins
  -> Grazie, irenef. Come stai? Tutto bene?
agree  Nicole Johnson: You could also phrase it as follows: Tourists staying in Venice are bound to be milked for all they are worth.
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Nicole.
agree  Umberto Cassano
3 hrs
agree  silvia b (X)
7 hrs
agree  kironne
15 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
tourists who... will find their wallets squeezed dry


Explanation:
or "will leave with empty pockets."

Denise DeVries
United States
Local time: 00:05
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
(the tourist) will be milked bone dry/is a cow to milk bone dry


Explanation:
"Milking dry" is the right metaphor here (points to Pnina, please, Jenny) although I'd be tempted to reformulate and/or add a reinforcing "bone".

The lemon metaphor does exist in English (you could say "the tourist will be squeezed until the pips squeak") but ever since Denis Healey in the 1970s, squeaking pips have tended to be associated with over-enthusiastic taxation, not ambitiously priced restaurants and hotels.

HTH

Giles

Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 06:05
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Umberto Cassano: There's erudition in your answers! I hope you'll be publishing a book on IT/EN translation one day. Practising translators are badly in need of a handbook with practical guidelines about language use, the correct use of metaphors is a case in point. Ciao!
42 mins
agree  silvia b (X)
4 hrs
agree  kironne: Giles, you should get the points. Et voilà.
12 hrs
agree  Lucia Z (X)
21 hrs
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