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Some journalist invented a few years ago that there is this mysterious, untranslatable Italian expression "bella figura" (or its opposite, "brutta figura"). Whi
by Udik 6y ago
Some journalist invented a few years ago that there is this mysterious, untranslatable Italian expression "bella figura" (or its opposite, "brutta figura"). Which in fact simply means "good impression"- as in "let's make a good impression". This article goes at it again. It even translates it correctly when presenting it in an anecdote, but then reverts to a literal, wrong translation to make it sound more exotic.
- ithkuil 6y agoThat's because the article attaches to it a special aura of "italianess" as if Italians were obsessed by their looks in a unique way (which might be true or not, but I don't see how this translates to the untranslatability of the word itself, rather than just being the side effect of capitalizing a trope)
- jaclaz 6y agoAlso, bella (o brutta) figura is in Italian much more related to behaviour/politeness/education/culture, than to appearance. Though you can say that something (or even someone) "fa figura", if it looks better than what it is really made of.