a fare da ago della bilancia

English translation: which held the balance of power

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Italian term or phrase:	a fare da ago della bilancia
English translation:	which held the balance of power
Entered by:	Tom in London

14:20 Dec 20, 2009

Italian to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

Italian term or phrase: a fare da ago della bilancia

it refers to the german liberal party, which lying at the centre of a three-party system could tilt the balance towards a centre-right or a centre-left coalition basically at its own will.

is there a phrase for that in English?
there's something in the glossary, but it won't do ("to tip the scale"... that's what you do when you decide, but I need to describe the *position* from which you can actually do that)

giulio Not a translator KudoZ activity Questions: 7 (none open) Answers: 14
Local time: 21:52

which held the balance of power

Explanation:
"il sistema tedesco era formato da soli tre partiti - i due maggior con la FDP a fare da ago della bilancia"

"the German system consisted of only three parties - two main parties and the FDP, which held the balance of power"

Selected response from:

Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:52

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +3

bellwether (party)

Giles Watson

4 +1

which held the balance of power

Tom in London

swing party

Marco Solinas

in a position to tip the scale

Fiorsam

kingmaker

Oliver Lawrence

to hold the scales even

cynthiatesser

1 +1

..... in a position to sway the balance between....

Audra deFalco (X)

Discussion entries: 7

Answers

20 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

(fungere da) ago della bilancia ..... in a position to sway the balance between....

Explanation:
The German liberal party was in such a position as to sway the political balance between the three-party system.

Or, they were simply in a position to tip the scale of balance. You answered the question yourself :D

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Note added at 21 mins (2009-12-20 14:42:10 GMT)
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15:29

"il sistema tedesco era formato da soli tre partiti - i due maggior con la FDP a fare da ago della bilancia"

"The German system was formed of just three parties- the two major ones, and the FDP to act in a position of tipping the scales in either direction."

Audra deFalco (X)
United States
Local time: 15:52
Native speaker of: English

2 hrs confidence:

swing party

Explanation:
:-)

Marco Solinas
Local time: 12:52
Native speaker of:

English,

Italian
PRO pts in category: 14

32 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

(fungere da) ago della bilancia bellwether (party)

Explanation:
The bellwether metaphor (see Wikipedia article) is usually applied in politics to constituencies that mirror national trends but the book Recasting bourgeois Europe, quoted in the other link, uses the expression to describe the role of the National Liberal party in pre-WWI Germany.

Google picks up one other instance of "bellwether party", again referring to Germany, in an article called "Fallada for Historians" by an American academic (http://www.jstor.org/pss/1432743) but payment is demanded to download the full text.

HTH

Giles

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-12-20 15:24:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Hi Giulio. Bellwethers aren't that passive. Take this blog posting from America:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=...

in which a Democrat chortles over the bellwether state of Colorado changing its allegiance (bear in mind that the post dates from 2004).

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Note added at 3 hrs (2009-12-20 18:11:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Another expression you could use is "in the catbird seat" (ie "the Liberals were in the catbird seat"). This might satisfy Arrigo if he insists on a more pro-active kind of needle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catbird_seat

I still think "bellwether party" is a good option, though, as do the sources I have quoted.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellwether
Reference: http://books.google.it/books?id=XLXh89ITbbcC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA3...

Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 21:52
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: VERY interesting! Thank you! I never heard that expression. Luckily I can access the full text of the article (only one marginal reference though). It all sounds more passive, more "signalling", than "deciding" though. I'll keep looking into it. Many many thanks

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Audra deFalco (X): Yes, very interesting indeed. Never heard of this effect, but you learn something new every day!

16 mins

-> Cheers, G.

agree

claudiocambon: and when it's an individual, you can say swing vote (at least in the US), but this is spot on for group entities

58 mins

agree

Umberto Cassano

1 hr

disagree

Daniel Frisano: sorry, it has nothing to do with the Italian meaning

2 hrs

neutral

Oliver Lawrence: I agree with Arrigo, bellwether is something that leads or indicates a trend in the wider political world (eg if Basildon votes Tory then there will be a Tory government), which doesn't seem close enough to the meaning here

4 hrs

-> Then what about my other option, Oliver "in the catbird seat"?

neutral

James (Jim) Davis: With Oliver. Not the same thing. The Irish held the balance of power in the British parliament for many years, but you could hardly call them a bellwether party.

22 hrs

agree

Dr Lofthouse

1 day 51 mins

4 hrs confidence:

in a position to tip the scale

Explanation:
I think this is exactly what it's meant.

Fiorsam
United States
Local time: 15:52
Works in field
Native speaker of: Italian
PRO pts in category: 4

5 hrs confidence:

kingmaker

Explanation:
i.e. the small party whose support determines which of the larger parties will form the government (and, by extension, whose leader will become the prime minister/president)

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Note added at 5 hrs (2009-12-20 19:47:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or, perhaps better, "the small party whose support determines which of the larger parties will LEAD the government"

Oliver Lawrence
Italy
Local time: 21:52
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 71

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

which held the balance of power

Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:52
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 48

17 hrs confidence:

to hold the scales even

Explanation:
-

cynthiatesser
Italy
Local time: 21:52
Native speaker of: Italian
PRO pts in category: 4

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