Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Jan 28, 2012 23:03
12 yrs ago
4 viewers *
Italian term
Avvocato
Italian to English
Art/Literary
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
I'm translating a screenplay in which one character is continually referred to as "Avvocato", which of course would not be translated into English (al limite I could use sir in come cases).
The problem is that he's NOT a lawyer, and so always points this out -
X - Grazie, avvocato.
Y - Non sono avvocato.
I'm sure you can see my problem, but can you help me solve it?
Thank you muchly in advance.
The problem is that he's NOT a lawyer, and so always points this out -
X - Grazie, avvocato.
Y - Non sono avvocato.
I'm sure you can see my problem, but can you help me solve it?
Thank you muchly in advance.
Proposed translations
(English)
3 +6 | Avvocato | Tom in London |
3 +4 | counselor | SJLD |
4 +1 | Prof | Oliver Lawrence |
4 | Attorney / Lawyer | Emiliano Pantoja |
4 | advocate | James (Jim) Davis |
3 | M'Lord | Daniela Zambrini |
3 | Master | Lara Barnett |
3 -1 | Judge | Daniel Frisano |
Change log
Jan 30, 2012 19:55: Russell Jones changed "Term asked" from "Avvocato (as title)" to "Avvocato"
Feb 5, 2012 17:10: Tom in London Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+6
14 mins
Italian term (edited):
Avvocato (as title)
Selected
Avvocato
Assuming this is an Italian film whose Italian flavour you might want to retain, you might say something like:
X - Thanks, Avvocato.
Y - I'm not a lawyer.
(every time it happens).
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Note added at 20 mins (2012-01-28 23:23:54 GMT)
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This reminds me of this conversation I'm always having with Italians:
X - Voi inglesi...
Tom - Non sono inglese.
X - Thanks, Avvocato.
Y - I'm not a lawyer.
(every time it happens).
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Note added at 20 mins (2012-01-28 23:23:54 GMT)
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This reminds me of this conversation I'm always having with Italians:
X - Voi inglesi...
Tom - Non sono inglese.
Note from asker:
You might be right, Tom, I've left quite a few Italian things in per forza, so this might end up being another one |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Marco Solinas
: I like them both
5 mins
|
agree |
Barbara Carrara
: Best way to deal with this, I think.
7 hrs
|
agree |
Ivana UK
13 hrs
|
agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
15 hrs
|
agree |
Lorraine Buckley (X)
: works well: I'm not a lawyer/dottore I don't have a degree
1 day 1 hr
|
agree |
Susy Sinigag (X)
1 day 15 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks everyone, I went with Tom's in the end"
-1
9 mins
Italian term (edited):
Avvocato (as title)
Judge
Would it be too far fetched to use "judge" instead?
Note from asker:
I thought of "your honour", but I think it's too far off, thanks anyway |
Peer comment(s):
disagree |
Tom in London
: I thought of that too but concluded that it was too far-off
3 mins
|
+4
14 mins
Italian term (edited):
Avvocato (as title)
counselor
maybe?
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Marco Solinas
: I like them both
5 mins
|
agree |
Russell Jones
: Excellent idea for US audience; unfortunately "counsellor" in UK is not a lawyer, it's counsel, which is not a form of address.
20 mins
|
agree |
mlreid
: Counsel(l)or reminds me of the ***consigliere***, the character you find in The Godfather. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consigliere - an idea.
12 hrs
|
agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: think we've seen enough US movies now to understand this meaning of word and of the "consigliere"
15 hrs
|
22 mins
Italian term (edited):
Avvocato (as title)
M'Lord
could this do?
it sounds appropriately reverent, with a twist of British humor
"Thank you, m'Lord ..."
"Dinner is served, m'Lord" etc...
it sounds appropriately reverent, with a twist of British humor
"Thank you, m'Lord ..."
"Dinner is served, m'Lord" etc...
Note from asker:
Yes, "M'lud" and "Your Honour" both sound great, but a judge is just too far removed, I'm afraid |
7 hrs
Italian term (edited):
Avvocato (as title)
Attorney / Lawyer
.
12 hrs
Italian term (edited):
Avvocato (as title)
advocate
Use a literal approach and give it a little local flavour, which clearly can't be avoided. If he is always saying he is not an avvocato, he must at som point say he has never practiced as a lawer..
13 hrs
Italian term (edited):
Avvocato (as title)
Master
As this seems to be relating more to a hierarchical form of address which has been passed down historically, rather than just purely a reference to somebody's profession, maybe one way of dealing with it is to use this more general and archaic form of address used in the same way in older English.
For example:
"Master"
"I am not your Master"
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Note added at 13 hrs (2012-01-29 12:22:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
This loses some of tire legal aspect of the idea, but keeps the conversational flow and the sense of hierarchy and history.
For example:
"Master"
"I am not your Master"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 hrs (2012-01-29 12:22:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
This loses some of tire legal aspect of the idea, but keeps the conversational flow and the sense of hierarchy and history.
+1
16 hrs
Italian term (edited):
Avvocato (as title)
Prof
A plausible informal term of address from a less educated person to someone they (mistakenly) perceive as being more educated than them. I haven't seen anywhere here that the legal aspect of 'avvocato' was important in this case.
Note from asker:
Thanks Oliver, not a bad idea but unfortunately the legal aspect is important - the guy is always quoting laws and actually expects people to follow the rules, which the people down south interpret as him being a lawyer |
Discussion
(http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/dottore/)