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nati con la camicia

English translation: tailors-made

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Italian term or phrase:nati con la camicia
English translation:tailors-made
Entered by: S K

10:32 Nov 11, 2005
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Linguistics / Saying
Italian term or phrase: nati con la camicia
This is a tricky one! - I know we say "born with a silver spoon in their mouth" for the above but this is a play on words as the people in question are a family in the textile industry and "nati con la camicia" wants to obviously convey the fact that they were fortunate to be born into such a family business etc.... but can anyone think of a way to translate it?
Very grateful for any ideas at all as I am completely stuck on this one!
Mairi-Claire Hamill
Italy
Local time: 05:44
tailors-made
Explanation:
Pun. As if born tailors
Selected response from:

S K
Ireland
Local time: 04:44
Grading comment
Thanks to e.one for their suggestions and help. I opted for this one as it was concise and best suited the snappy context of sub-title.
thanks again to all!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2tailors-made
S K
2 +3born with a shirt on one's back
awilliams
3 +1born to the cloth
Laurel Porter (X)
4This family never lost their shirt
Jo Macdonald


  

Answers


31 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
tailors-made


Explanation:
Pun. As if born tailors

S K
Ireland
Local time: 04:44
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks to e.one for their suggestions and help. I opted for this one as it was concise and best suited the snappy context of sub-title.
thanks again to all!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Mario Calvagna: also tailor made as in made by tailors....
35 mins
  -> Thanks, Mario.
agree  transparx
7 hrs
  -> Thanks, Ninogulli
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38 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
born to the cloth


Explanation:
Tough one! Plays on words are a matter of personal taste and humor - there's no "right" way. The only thing that resonates with me is "man of the cloth", meaning the religious calling, but you may not want to go this way...

Good luck!

Laurel Porter (X)
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  bobedwin
19 mins
  -> Thanks!
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49 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +3
born with a shirt on one's back


Explanation:
Just an idea, which is essentially the same as "born with a silver spoon in one's mouth" but with textile overtones! Only a few Google refs to support this one, I'm afraid.
A tough one!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 50 mins (2005-11-11 11:22:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The link to my refs hasn't worked - sorry.


    Reference: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22BORN+WITH+A+SHIRT+...
awilliams
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:44
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Laurel Porter (X): Hm... To echo the "silver spoon", perhaps "born with a silk shirt"?
15 mins
  -> Cheers, Laurel.
agree  Russell Jones: my favourite
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Russell.
agree  Garaemma
1 hr
agree  transparx: agree with Laurel...maybe 'silk'. also, "one's mouth" cannot be omitted, but "one's back" could.
7 hrs
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
This family never lost their shirt


Explanation:
You could try

This family never lost their shirt. In fact, they ended up selling them to the world.

Losing your shirt means losing big money and it’s often used in double-meanings and things
http://www.google.it/search?hs=c2v&hl=it&client=firefox-a&rl...

Or you could go for:

This family never sold the shirt off their backs, but they might have put one on yours.

Having the shirt off your back basically means you’ve got nothing else to lose. The saying started in gambling I think.

http://www.google.it/search?hs=u3v&hl=it&client=firefox-a&rl...


Jo Macdonald
Spain
Local time: 05:44
Native speaker of: English
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