Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Italian term or phrase:
capo di minghe
English translation:
dickhead
Added to glossary by
Alexander Taguiltsev
Nov 26, 2005 10:23
18 yrs ago
Italian term
No MT, No TMs: I am a Translator!
Native in: Italian 
Works in: English to Italian, French to Italian, Italian
capo di minghe
May offend
Italian to English
Art/Literary
Slang
"Besides which," Cesare put in, "she's so big."
The Gaucho clenched one fist. "How big."
"175 by 279 centimeters," admitted Signor Mantissa.
"Capo di minghe!" the Gaucho sat back, shaking his head. With an obvious effort at controlling his temper, he addressed Signor Mantissa. "I'm not a small man,"...
This is from Thomas Pynchon's "V" - chapter seven ("She hangs on the western wall"), towards the end of section II (a couple of pages before its end in my 1963 Viking UK paperback edition)
To my Italian ear, this sounds like a "pynchonesque" deformation of the semi-dialectal Italian insult / swear word "Testa di minchia" - an opinion reinforced by the Florentine setting of the scene and by the association of the Gaucho with Argentine (Borges must have said something to the effect that an Argentinian is an Italian who speaks Spanish and dreams himself an Englishman... IIRC).
I'm not quite sure this is the right language or language combination for the question, but I'd like to have opinions from native English speakers, and especially from Americans with some Italian, or Spanish; but everybody is welcome to contribute...
This is not for paid work on Pynchon's novel, unfortunately, in case someone was wondering - just a personal curiosity
The Gaucho clenched one fist. "How big."
"175 by 279 centimeters," admitted Signor Mantissa.
"Capo di minghe!" the Gaucho sat back, shaking his head. With an obvious effort at controlling his temper, he addressed Signor Mantissa. "I'm not a small man,"...
This is from Thomas Pynchon's "V" - chapter seven ("She hangs on the western wall"), towards the end of section II (a couple of pages before its end in my 1963 Viking UK paperback edition)
To my Italian ear, this sounds like a "pynchonesque" deformation of the semi-dialectal Italian insult / swear word "Testa di minchia" - an opinion reinforced by the Florentine setting of the scene and by the association of the Gaucho with Argentine (Borges must have said something to the effect that an Argentinian is an Italian who speaks Spanish and dreams himself an Englishman... IIRC).
I'm not quite sure this is the right language or language combination for the question, but I'd like to have opinions from native English speakers, and especially from Americans with some Italian, or Spanish; but everybody is welcome to contribute...
This is not for paid work on Pynchon's novel, unfortunately, in case someone was wondering - just a personal curiosity
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +4 | dickhead |
Alexander Taguiltsev
|
Change log
Nov 26, 2005 11:26: Anabel Martínez changed "Language pair" from "English" to "Italian to English"
Proposed translations
+4
51 mins
Alexander Taguiltsev
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Accessible round the clock
Native in: Russian (Variant: Standard-Russia)
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
dickhead
http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:ZqsGjU-kHhwJ:www.hyperar...
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Note added at 53 mins (2005-11-26 11:17:38 GMT)
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Italian (southern): "dick" (i.e., "penis"); also used as a general profane exclamation, similar to how "shit" is used; "Capo di minghe!" ("dickhead!"), 164; "Minghe" 166;
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Note added at 53 mins (2005-11-26 11:17:38 GMT)
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Italian (southern): "dick" (i.e., "penis"); also used as a general profane exclamation, similar to how "shit" is used; "Capo di minghe!" ("dickhead!"), 164; "Minghe" 166;
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you for the site!
I still wonder somehow, not about the sense, but about the way Pybnchon might have picked up (at least) some Italian, because: 1) minghe is not a common pronunciation for "minchia" in any southern or northern Italian dialect that I know of; 2) "Capo" for "head" is rather learned usage
I was dimly hoping for input from Americans of Italian origin, I guess (this is why I originally posted this in EN>EN). But none of this makes your contribution any less welcome, of course."
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