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Italian to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Slang / autobiography
Italian term or phrase:caghetto
I can gather what this term means, but can't come up with a translation that's not vulgar in English, yet is strong enough to convey the meaning.
Here's the sentence:
i primi mesi di scuola elementare ho avuto il caghetto… il caghetto per l’ansia da prestazione.. per l’emozione nell’affrontare la nuova avventura e la paura di non essere all’altezza.
I don't think "s****ing one's pants" is equivalent in terms of social acceptability. Does anyone have a suggestion?
won't go away, so I don't see what I'm typing (like "me cagavo" instead of "mi cagavo, etc. IMCO, Jim is dead wrong: I would say caghetto in the faculty meeting (sounds childishly funny) but not "scared shitless" in the equivalent faculty meeting at, say Tafts. As for socially unacceptable, both, alas, are quite accepted: nowadays one hears "fuck" on TV more frequently than "love"...
"Caghetto" is not nearly as vulgar as scared shitless, which would be close to "me cagavo adosso". Caghetto is rather mild. Ask the natives... although I, too, live in Italy for over 30 years. To me it sounds almost like "having collywobbles", rather than shitting oneself. I do see that you're searching for an answer in good fail, and so in good faith I'm trying to help. Di punti non me ne frega niente.
At the outset, I did want a term that was not vulgar. Subsequently, after reading the suggestions in these posts, I asked the agency for additional guidelines about the job. The response was to conserve the tone of the original. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear.
You said you wanted a "a translation that's not vulgar in English, yet is strong enough to convey the meaning." and then choose one of the most vulgar and yet conveying the meaning which is only marginally suitble for the term in question. . Disconcerting, I must say.
I just want to reiterate what I have already said. Either discuss it with the author or stick to a genuine translation, with a clear reference to shits and/or runs. Hardly appropriate for a masters application in either language, except with "poetic" license.
Do you know what the academic subject matter is? From this context, I don't see any reason to believe it's psychology. And if it's something like fine arts and this is a writing sample, you need to stick to the original language. My two cents, anyway.
I am really unsure to what degree the Italian term is acceptable in a document that will be read for acceptance for a Masters program, but I do think that unless this is some type of creative writing assignment, in English this would be culturally inappropriate. Your best option may well be to deviate from the scatological image and express this in terms of "scared".
I don't think "caghetto", a slangish, somewhat humorous word for the runs, is actually part of the repertoir of a 6 year old (primi mesi di scuola elementare); on the contrary, it seems to me that it is used ironically by the adult narrator.
You essentially have two characters here - the adult narrator and the child. The narrator is speaking of the child, his boy self, who would probably not say anything so vulgar as "I shit my pants." As a literary device, I think you want to impart the sense of the child's feelings here, not the adult's.
My first reaction was that "caghetto" is something so revolting you don't even want to think about it, you just hold your nose and change the nappy. However, having googled it at google.it (not google.com) the second page up is SE NON LO CONDiViDi Ti ViEN iL CAGHETTO A SPRUZZO -.-'' | Facebook SE NON LO CONDiViDi Ti ViEN iL CAGHETTO A SPRUZZO -.-'' is on FacebookSign up for Facebook to connect with SE NON LO CONDiViDi Ti ViEN iL CAGHETTO A SPRUZZO ... www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96838422349 - Copia cache - I didn't have the stomach to read further (just eaten).
Personally, what she communicated to me was: "I got the shits", but just a bit more graphically and more colourfully. I would think more than twice about using the term if this was part of my own application for a master, but in these cases I think most people would agree with me that the translator would be ethically wrong to improve (or perhaps detract from) the application in translation, and should not be pressured by an agency, to "adjust" it. Clearly suggestions to rewrite the original, would be acceptable.
Here's what the agency said about the target group of this autobiography:
La Signorina deve presentare questo file per partecipare ad un Master a livello mondiale….suppongo che lo esamineranno degli esperti di selezione (psicologi ecc.).
Explanation: it isn't polite in Italian and therefore should not be polite in English.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 8 mins (2010-01-04 16:24:54 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
"caghetto" is colloquial but certainly not polite; but neither is it vulgar. It is acceptable in certain situations, but not in middle-class drawing rooms.
Tom in London United Kingdom Local time: 08:55 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 24
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks, Tom. There is, however, a difference between polite and vulgar. Looking around on the Web, I got the feeling that "caghetto" is fairly acceptable, whereas "shitting myself" is truly vulgar and virtually unacceptable in most contexts in English. In any event, I will use it unless I (or someone else) can come up with something better.
8 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +3
the runs
Explanation: il senso è questo.... non so però, se il termine è accettabile per il tuo testo...