Monday 29 May 2017

ANIA C1 Group 2 Lesson 16

Class
Business & Economics Unit 11, Language Leader Advanced p. 113
Reading "Business/Economic Bites"

Vocabulary
retail outlets, turnover, counterfeit/fake goods, inflation, subsidiary.

Homework
Finish question 5, p. 113.

Discussion - How to translate "tirare i remi in barca"
There is not an equivalent expression in English as this discussion from the Word Reference Forum illustrates:

Question:
"When someone for whatever reason (age, physical condition etc ) is required to give up an activity which they love doing (sport, travel etc) in Italian we say "put the oars in the boat". How do you say that in English ? Thanks for your help."

Best Answer:
"Well I have slept on this and I still could not think of an exact equivalent. Due to age if we stop playing sport or retire from work we say "I will hang up my boots". Joan explains this is the same as 'Appendere le scarpe al chiodo'.

Of the previous suggestions : When we avoid arguments and let others take decisions we use "to go with the flow". If we sit back on work already done we "rest on our laurels". In terms of work we could also use "to take the foot off the gas" or "ease off" or "take the pressure off" but none of these equal Tirare i remi in barca as they do not indicate you are stopping.

Adding to Underhouse's comment I can give up sport or work and back down from the responsibility of helping. I would step down from a job or role to allow someone else to do it. The only other phrases I can think of are "to take a rest" or "take it easy". 

However here is the best I can come up with .... Tirare i remi in barca = to give it a rest. I want to play football but my wife has told me to give it a rest now. I want to continue to travel but my body tells me to give it a rest for good. You can even argue with your wife and she will tell you to give it a rest !"




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