# sorry dog's dinner



## kitten

hi!! can you tell me what does "to embroil in the sorry dog's dinner" mean?  

thank you!


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## TimLA

This is VERY idiomatic.

"sorry" most often means "mi dispiace", but it can also mean "pitiful" or "sfortunato".

So the sentence can be broken up like this:

to embroil in - to become involved in, ?to roll in
the sorry dog's - il cane sfortunato
dinner - cena

"Embroil" is a funny use here, perhaps the whole sentence would help.

Tim


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## kitten

thank you TimLA.
so, can I translate it like "I don't want to have to do with this mess" or something like that?


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## TimLA

kitten said:
			
		

> thank you TimLA.
> so, can I translate it like "I don't want to have to do with this mess" or something like that?


 
I'm really not sure...this is not an idiomatic phrase that I have heard before (only the use of "sorry"). I think the whole sentence or the context would be better before doing the translation.

Tim


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## kitten

the whole sentence is: she wasn't about to embroil herself in the sorry dog's dinner that was Will's life.


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## TimLA

kitten said:
			
		

> the whole sentence is: she wasn't about to embroil herself in the sorry dog's dinner that was Will's life.


 
VERY figurative...

She wasn't going to become involved in Will's life because it was so complex/messed-up/disastrous.

In this case "sorry dog's dinner" just refers to something that is a "casino", and is very negative in connotation.

Tim


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## kitten

thank you very much for your help Tim!!


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## lsp

The comparison is a very personal twist (_cioè _not a common idiom) on the wretchedness of dog food!


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## moodywop

I'm quite interested in these "dog's X" idioms . I used to hear them all the time in England. Could you tell me if they're used or understood by AE speakers?

I remember hearing _dressed up like a dog's dinner _to refer to someone who has dressed up for an occasion, possibly with a negative connotation of bad taste (what's the connection to a dog's dinner, though? ).

Another one is _a dog's breakfast, _meaning "a mess". I did find an AE quote: _a dog's breakfast of a budget proposal _(_N.Y.Times_)

This last one may well be unfamiliar to most Americans: _it's the dog's bollocks_ meaning that something is very good.


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## You little ripper!

> I remember hearing _dressed up like a dog's dinner _to refer to someone who has dressed up for an occasion, possibly with a negative connotation of bad taste (what's the connection to a dog's dinner, though? ).


This is one explanation, but it seems a bit far fetched.


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## matthew bailey

A "dog's dinner" is one bowl containing all the combined left-overs that can't be recycled into another dish for the humans - so it decribes a mish-mash or grating collision of things that weren't intended to go together, and consequently look horrible!  Hence 'dressed up like a dog's dinner' - a too-complicated or garish outfit, looking like it's made out of too many bits.


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## You little ripper!

matthew bailey said:
			
		

> A "dog's dinner" is one bowl containing all the combined left-overs that can't be recycled into another dish for the humans - so it decribes a mish-mash or grating collision of things that weren't intended to go together, and consequently look horrible!  Hence 'dressed up like a dog's dinner' - a too-complicated or garish outfit, looking like it's made out of too many bits.


That's how I would have interpreted that, but to be dressed up like a dog's dinner is supposed_ to mean to be dressed smartly or elegantly. _


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## matthew bailey

Charles Costante said:
			
		

> That's how I would have interpreted that, but to be dressed up like a dog's dinner is supposed_ to mean to be dressed smartly or elegantly. _


 
Oh right - in my family it means 'overdone' or 'over-complicated' or 'messy' - I didn't realise it could have connotations of 'smartness'!!!  Ignore me, it must be some Midlands variation....


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## brian

I've never heard any of these _dog's X_ idioms.  Maybe it is purely BE.  TimLA, do you hear this phrase in your part of the US or are you familiar with it from elsewhere?


Brian


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## TimLA

brian8733 said:
			
		

> I've never heard any of these _dog's X_ idioms. Maybe it is purely BE. TimLA, do you hear this phrase in your part of the US or are you familiar with it from elsewhere?
> Brian


 
It sounds VERY BE - and since I'm a big fan of all BE comedy I probably have heard it before, but I've never heard it spoken in the US.
As you can tell by the thread, I was clueless until I saw the whole sentence, then it became clear from context, but not from any _a priori_ knowlege.

I think the only "dog X" word I use from BE is "dogsbody" which is from Black Adder (!!!!).
I howl everytime I hear it or use it!

Tim


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## Student20

Hi,

In *E*nglish we have a phrase "the dog's dinner" and I'm currently trying to translate an article from English into Italian. The article contains this phrase and I have no idea what the equivalent might be in Italian?

Could anyone help?

Thank you

If it helps, the phrase in English essentially means "Dressed or displayed in an overly smart manner"


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## london calling

Hello!
Can you give us the whole sentence? I'm assuming it's "dressed up like the dog's dinner", which in Italian is "essere in tiro", but...

EDIT: Yes, it helped! We always ask for context!

Nativi, qualche altra espressione?


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## Student20

The sentence is 
" Such as £5 for one perfect apple, done up like a dog's dinner in three levels of plastic...."

Thank you


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## GavinW

I didn't know this phrase in English: I only know "to look like a dog's dinner" (to look very messy), which has the opposite meaning!

But I do know (?) this: "essere addobbato per la festa"/"essere conciato per la festa" (natives: please check spelling and form), which might work as a translation of "looking overly smart".


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## underhouse

Student20 said:


> If it helps, the phrase in English essentially means "Dressed or displayed in an overly smart manner"


 
From this definition, this expression seems to have a negative nuance...is it so?


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## Student20

Yes, it has a negative nuance.


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## underhouse

Student20 said:


> Yes, it is a negative nuance.


 
Then I suggest the word "damerino".

From Garzanti:

*damerino*
_s. m_. chi è lezioso e ricercato nel vestire; bellimbusto, vagheggino.


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## london calling

GavinW said:


> But I do know (?) this: "essere addobbato per la festa"/"essere conciato per la festa" (natives: please check spelling and form), which might work as a translation of "looking overly smart".


Hello!
I'm not a native, but I think _addobato per le feste_ would work (I said "essere in tiro", which means "dressed to kill", but I suppose it's slightly different). However, I think we have to be careful with "conciato per le feste", as this also means to be battered and bruised after a fight with someone! "You look like you've been in the wars", as we say!

"Si è messo il vestito della domenica" (Sunday best) or "è un cafone vestito a festa" came to mind as well, but again they're slightly different....

Natives?

EDIT: I've just read the sentence that needs to be translated: we're talking about apples, not people! I think I'd change it in Italian.

" Such as £5 for one perfect apple, done up like a dog's dinner in three levels of plastic...."

Per esempio, £5 per comprare una mela perfetta venduta in una confezione di lusso fatta con ben tre strati di plastica...


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## raisetheflavour

In Br E *dressed up like a dog's dinner* significa che tu ti vesti in maniera da volere impressionare la gente, ma il vestito non e` adatto  per l'occasione. Mentre *dog's breakfast/dinner* vuol dire che hai fatto una cosa in maniera disordinata o fatta male. 

Scusate se sono venuta in ritardo.


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## pandinorombante

london calling said:


> Hello!
> I'm not a native, but I think _addobato per le feste_  would work (I said "essere in tiro"  ("essere in tiro" means to dress in a very elegant and smart way, that you usually don't),  which means "dressed to kill", but I suppose it's slightly different). However, I think we have to be careful with "conciato per le feste", as this also means to be battered and bruised after a fight with someone! "You look like you've been in the wars", as we say!
> 
> "Si è messo il vestito della domenica"  (the best in my opinion) (Sunday best) or "è un cafone vestito a festa" (slightly different, it's a bit rude) came to mind as well, but again they're slightly different....
> 
> Natives?
> 
> EDIT: I've just read the sentence that needs to be translated: we're talking about apples, not people! I think I'd change it in Italian.
> 
> " Such as £5 for one perfect apple, done up like a dog's dinner in three levels of plastic...."
> 
> Per esempio, £5 per comprare una mela perfetta venduta in una confezione di lusso fatta con ben tre strati di plastica...


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## london calling

Ciao, pandino!

_Dressed up like the dog's dinner_ può voler dire: _to be dressed smartly or elegantly._ Vero è che ha un'accezione spesso negativa....Non va bene "essere in tiro" in questo contesto? Non può essere ironico come la frase inglese?

Comunque, se vedi l'EDIT del mio post, ho suggerito una traduzione della frase (che ho letto dopo, lo confesso!). Puoi dare un'occhiata e dirmi cosa pensi, dare qualche tuo suggerimento, visto che ho scoperto che stiamo parlando di "mele confezionate!!!" e secondo me "addobbato ecc." non va bene..ma vedi tu, nativo!


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## il_paradiso_della_pomicia

GavinW said:


> I didn't know this phrase in English: I only know "to look like a dog's dinner" (to look very messy), which has the opposite meaning!
> 
> But I do know (?) this: "essere addobbato per la festa"/"essere conciato per la festa" (natives: please check spelling and form), which might work as a translation of "looking overly smart".




"essere addobbato..." sound like an old-fashioned way to say something...
and be carefull, because "essere conciato per le feste" has a second meaning as "to be beat up like a ...?" I don't remember what you usually put in the end of the sentence...

"Mettersi in tiro per l'occasione" means really to put a lot of efforts to dress in an accurate way, but the use is let say "young" and a bit informal.
Also "tirarsi a lucido" (like a car, to explain). but they don't have the meaning of "messy".


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## miri

Jo sta cercando di far capire, ma nessuno l'ascolta , che qui *non* si sta parlando di una *persona* ma di* mele* e che "done up like a dog's dinner si riferisce alla *modo in cui le mele sono confezionate*!!!! La sua traduzione mi sembra perfetta 
Se poi Student fornisse un po' più di contesto, saremmo certi al 100% ...


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## pandinorombante

london calling said:


> Ciao, pandino!
> 
> _Dressed up like the dog's dinner_ può voler dire: _to be dressed smartly or elegantly._ Vero è che ha un'accezione spesso negativa....Non va bene "essere in tiro" in questo contesto? Non può essere ironico come la frase inglese?


 
"essere in tiro" non ha un'accezione negativa, a meno che non sia usata in senso ironico.. per esempio: una persona si è conciata per le feste e allora ironicamente le dici: hey, sei proprio in tiro oggi...  




> Comunque, se vedi l'EDIT del mio post, ho suggerito una traduzione della frase (che ho letto dopo, lo confesso!). Puoi dare un'occhiata e dirmi cosa pensi, dare qualche tuo suggerimento, visto che ho scoperto che stiamo parlando di "mele confezionate!!!" e secondo me "addobbato ecc." non va bene..ma vedi tu, nativo!


 
E' veramente difficile trovare un equivalente in italiano.. provo a suggerire:
"Appena 5£ per una mela perfetta, addobbata in una confezione di lusso fatta con ben tre strati di plastica..." (addobbata ovviamente ha un chiaro significato ironico ed è l'unica maniera di rendere la frase inglese; si potrebbe dire anche conciata ma suona male, meglio essere ironici usando addobbata).

Vediamo cosa dicono gli altri...


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## miri

Per dare enfasi all'implicazione ironica si potrebbe dire "agghindata a festa in una confezione di lusso", oppure "agghindata (a festa) con ben tre strati di plastica", come se la plastica fosse una sorta di abito per la mela ...


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## pandinorombante

miri said:


> Per dare enfasi all'implicazione ironica si potrebbe dire "agghindata a festa in una confezione di lusso", oppure "agghindata (a festa) con ben tre strati di plastica", come se la plastica fosse una sorta di abito per la mela ...


 
E brava la nostra Miri... con i tre strati di plastica che fanno da abito lussuoso per questa perfetta mela... sono pienamente d'accordo!


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## london calling

miri said:


> Per dare enfasi all'implicazione ironica si potrebbe dire "agghindata a festa in una confezione di lusso", oppure "agghindata (a festa) con ben tre strati di plastica", come se la plastica fosse una sorta di abito per la mela ...


Finalmente! Wow, miri!

Yes, I think that translates the idea very well!


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