# Esagerato!



## krige

In Italian we say "esagerato!" to appoint someone who has overdone something, like killing a fly with a bazooka, for example.

What would be the equivalent in the English language?


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## You little ripper!

How would you translate it, krige?


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## Paulfromitaly

Dacci una frase di esempio completa per favore


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## krige

You little ripper! said:


> How would you translate it, krige?


Maybe "overdoer!"? But nothing meaningful actually comes to mind really...


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## Paulfromitaly

krige said:


> Maybe "overdoer!"? But nothing meaningful actually comes to mind really...


Dacci una frase di esempio completa per favore


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## krige

Paulfromitaly said:


> Dacci una frase di esempio completa per favore


Tizio: "Il dottore mi ha consigliato di camminare per almeno 30 minuti al giorno, ma io invece sto camminando per 3 ore al giorno"
Caio, rivolto verso tizio: "Esagerato!"


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## You little ripper!

krige said:


> Tizio: "Il dottore mi ha consigliato di camminare per almeno 30 minuti al giorno, ma io invece sto camminando per 3 ore al giorno"
> Caio, rivolto verso tizio: "Esagerato!"


Either of these might work, krige:

_That's a bit over-the-top, isn't it?
That's what I call overkill!_


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## joanvillafane

I think the difference is that in English, we wouldn't use a noun or adjective to characterize the person.  The only thing that sounds natural to me is something like:

Don't overdo it!
or a slang expression:  Don't go overboard!


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## Paulfromitaly

joanvillafane said:


> I think the difference is that in English, we wouldn't use a noun or adjective to characterize the person.


That's another problem: it's not always clear whether esagerato refers to the person or the action itself.
What's esagerato? The doctor or the doctor's suggestion?


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## london calling

Paulfromitaly said:


> That's another problem: it's not always clear whether esagerato refers to the person or the action itself.
> What's esagerato? The doctor or the doctor's suggestion?


I thought the same. In any case, my reply to the doctor's suggestion would be: "That's a bit much!"


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## joanvillafane

But it's not the doctor's suggestion that is too much. It's Tizio's decision to walk for 3 hours instead of 30 minutes.


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## krige

Paulfromitaly said:


> That's another problem: it's not always clear whether esagerato refers to the person or the action itself.
> What's esagerato? The doctor or the doctor's suggestion?


None of them actually, as I said in my original post it's a way to appoint the person who overdoes something, so it's the person who's walking 3 Km per day.

When we say "esagerato!" we are unequivocally referring to the person who overdoes something.




joanvillafane said:


> But it's not the doctor's suggestion that is too much. It's Tizio decision to walk for 3 hours instead of 30 minutes.


Exactly


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## london calling

joanvillafane said:


> But it's not the doctor's suggestion that is too much. It's Tizio decision to walk for 3 hours instead of 30 minutes.


Ah, true! I misread the example. Anyway,  I'd still say "That's bit much!" in reply to the bloke who says he's walking 3 hours a day instead of 30 minutes.

PS. krige, che cosa intendi con _appoint_  qui?


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## Pietruzzo

krige said:


> When we say "esagerato!" we are unequivocally referring to the person who overdoes something.


Exactly. To a woman, you would say "esagerata".


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## krige

london calling said:


> PS. krige, che cosa intendi con _appoint_  qui?


Attribuire un ruolo, appellare, chiamare, nominare, riferirsi, indicare.


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## london calling

Immaginavo, e non va bene......ma non possiamo parlarne qui perché andiamo off topic (a parte il fatto che probabilmente se n'è già discusso da qualche parte sul forum).


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## Polpo_D

I would say: S/he really knows how to overdo it.

We also have the term "overachiever" that you might want to look into, but it has a different set of connotations.   It might work here.

It's possible to use it in a negative sense: _S/he is such an overachiever!_


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## gemazul

I'm afraid that none of the suggested translations translate well into English. It's hard to explain why or how, but _esagerato! _is quite of a witty comment, too. In certain contexts I would translate it as _haha_, _you're_ _nuts! _but _that's a bit over-the-top _may also work.


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## Teerex51

gemazul said:


> I'm afraid that none of the suggested translations translate well into English.


I don't know how you can make that claim.  (Aside from the fact that your sentence makes little sense.)

_Esagerato_ is extremely context sensitive. It can be a dismissive comment or it can be said in a reproachful tone, or even in awe of someone's skills.

I actually think most of the above suggestions will work in a given context.

_That's a bit much! That's a bit over-the-top, isn't it? _(Walking 3 hours instead of 30 minutes a day)
_That's what I call overkill! _(Shooting a bazooka to kill flies; taking 20 Aspirin pills for a mild headache)
_You overachiever! _(Reading the complete works of William Shakespeare over a weekend)
BONUS TRACK:

_You hotdog! _(Parallel parking with handbrake turn at 40 MPH; Wingwalking to impress your friends)


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## london calling

gemazul said:


> I'm afraid that none of the suggested translations translate well into English. It's hard to explain why or how, but _esagerato! _is quite of a witty comment, too. In certain contexts I would translate it as _haha_, _you're_ _nuts! _but _that's a bit over-the-top _may also work.


I beg your pardon? Are you saying we don't speak our own language?


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## rrose17

And there's the ironic "Nothing succeeds like excess!" (which is a take on the line "nothing succeeds like success")


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## Teerex51

london calling said:


> I beg your pardon? Are you saying we don't speak our own language?


Our new member is _un po' esagerato/a _as befits many newbies desperate to impress


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## gemazul

rrose17 said:


> And there's the ironic "Nothing succeeds like excess!" (which is a take on the line "nothing succeeds like success")


I beg _your _pardon. Where did I say you don't speak your own language? I said the translations I've seen failed to convey the subtle nuances the Italian expression _esagetato _naturally implies.


Teerex51 said:


> Our new member is _un po' esagerato/a _as befits many newbies desperate to impress


Desperate to impress who? You? Hm.


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## Pietruzzo

To me "esagerato!" should be translated with some straight short phrase on the lines of "Really!/ No less! / Oh come on!"


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## Tellure

Potrebbe adattarsi qualcosa del genere: 
"Aren't you overplaying it a bit?"?


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## london calling

Sì, Tellure, ma non nel contesto dell'OP.

One thing is clear: the translation of 'esagerato!' is extremely context-sensitive.


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## You little ripper!

Tellure said:


> Potrebbe adattarsi qualcosa del genere:
> "Aren't you overplaying it a bit?"?


I would say, _Aren't you overdoing it a little/tad? _


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## Tellure

You little ripper! said:


> I would say, _Aren't you overdoing it a little/tad? _


Ecco!  Scusate la cantonata...  Mi piaceva il tono ironico della domanda,  ho solo sbagliato completamente verbo!   Quisquilie...


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## Teerex51

Tellure said:


> ... ho solo sbagliato completamente verbo!   Quisquilie...


Actually, you didn't.
I can very well see your suggestion working in a dialogue like the following:

A: I have made a discovery that will revolutionize the world as we know it.
_B: Whoa, aren't you overplaying it a bit?_​


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## Tellure

Teerex51 said:


> Actually, you didn't.
> I can very well see your suggestion working in a dialogue like the following:
> 
> A: I have made a discovery that will revolutionize the world as we know it.
> _B: Whoa, aren't you overplaying it a bit?_​


Oh, grazie, Tee! Mi sento un po' meglio ora!


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## london calling

Tellure said:


> Ecco!  Scusate la cantonata...  Mi piaceva il tono ironico della domanda,  ho solo sbagliato completamente verbo!   Quisquilie...


Niente affatto, vedi la mia risposta.


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## Tellure

london calling said:


> Niente affatto, vedi la mia risposta.



Esageravo un po' per scherzare, ma nella frase di Krige non ci sta proprio, in effetti.  

Ciao london!


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## Gabriol

Could another possible translation be "too much", like a popolar advertising campaign ("Italians, you are too much!")?


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## london calling

Sì. Se per te 'troppo' significa 'esagerato'


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## Gabriol

london calling said:


> Sì. Se per te 'troppo' significa 'esagerato'


So bene che "too much" significa "troppo". Mi riferivo ad una pubblicità che definisce benevolmente gli italiani come un popolo sovente eccessivo, esagerato ("When you speak, you are too much"). Ho quindi pensato che forse una possibile traduzione di "esagerato" in inglese fosse appunto quella che ho proposto.


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## london calling

Appunto perché so che sai che significa 'too much' in pratica ti chiedevo se per te _troppo _fosse  un sinonimo di_ esagerato_.


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## Gabriol

london calling said:


> Appunto perché so che sai che significa 'too much' in pratica ti chiedevo se per te _troppo _fosse  un sinonimo di_ esagerato_.


Bene. Confermo il mio precedente post.


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## aefrizzo

Sentita ieri per la prima volta e indirizzata a un negazionista:
"Pull the other one".
Sarebbe fuori luogo qui?


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## london calling

Non ho capito il nesso, Aef.


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## theartichoke

krige said:


> When we say "esagerato!" we are unequivocally referring to the person who overdoes something.



The term "keener!" just occurred to me as being a pretty close match, but when I googled it, I found it's listed as "Canadian slang."  Oh well. If you ever want to say "esagerato/a!" to a Canadian, you know what to say!


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## aefrizzo

london calling said:


> Non ho capito il nesso, Aef.



Un negazionista pubblica su fb uno sproloquio e una nurse che lavora in terapia intensiva commenta con questa unica frase. Che però contesta solo la tesi, non la lunghezza del testo.
Quindi se tu non vedi il nesso si vede che non c'é.


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## london calling

Significa più o meno 'Mi stai prendendo in giro?'.😊 La frase completa è 'Pull the other one, it's got bells on.'


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## johngiovanni

This thread is interesting but... perhaps getting lost somewhere.  "That's (maybe) pushing it a bit!" / "That would be pushing it a bit!"


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