# stare a stecchetto



## Pumpkin00

Hi everyone,

how would you translate the italian expression "stare a stecchetto" with an english _idiomatic_ equivalent?

possible context: 
il medico mi ha detto che sono sovrappeso, percio' devo stare a stecchetto!

I have to be on a diet? sounds a bit too flat.
I have to watch my weight? 
any better ideas? I'm looking for something as colloquial as the italian phrase.

Thanks a lot!
P


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## elfa

_...so I have to be on a diet of lettuce leaves from now on!_


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## Pitufa86

che dici di _to go on a strict diet_?


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## inalcanzable

It's dialect... maybe tuscan dialect... it simply means to be on a diet for a while


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## tranquilspaces

Pumpkin00 said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> how would you translate the italian expression "stare a stecchetto" with an english _idiomatic_ equivalent?
> 
> possible context:
> il medico mi ha detto che sono sovrappeso, percio' devo stare a stecchetto!
> 
> I have to be on a diet? sounds a bit too flat.
> I have to watch my weight?
> any better ideas? I'm looking for something as colloquial as the italian phrase.
> 
> Thanks a lot!
> P



I need to start watching my weight sounds fine to me.


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## Pumpkin00

Thanks a lot everyone!
Especially to Elfa, i like the lettuce leaf variant! idiomatic and colloquial, works fine.

Cheers, P.


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## london calling

Actually, what comes to me naturally here is "starvation diet": _I've been put on a starvation diet._


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## -GS-

inalcanzable said:


> It's dialect... maybe tuscan dialect... it simply means to be on a diet for a while



"Stare a stecchetto" might actually derive from Tuscan dialect, but it has come into common use in standard Italian. It's just a colloquial expression instead of saying, more formally: "sono a dieta" / "sto seguendo una dieta".


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## CPA

london calling said:


> Actually, what comes to me naturally here is "starvation diet": _I've been put on a starvation diet._


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## Akire72

Questo sito lo traduce con "stint", ma non so coem si usa, se come verbo o come aggettivo/avverbio.

I'm on a stint? I stint?

Stare a stecchetto significa stare in condizione di *stretta economia*, riferito a *denaro*, *alimenti*, *beni voluttuari*: essere, *stare*, tenere, mettere a s.

Non è riferito sempre e solo al cibo. Es.

Il mese scorso ho speso 600 euro più del dovuto. Qeesto mese devo stare a stecchetto per recuperare un po' dei soldi spesi, quindi niente stravizi!


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## london calling

Have a look at this, akire.

"I'm on a stint" si riferisce più ad un periodo (stretch). Dai un'occhiata qui a qualche uso in un contesto particolare.

Questo mese devo stare a stecchetto per recuperare un po' dei soldi spesi..

_I've gone overbudget this month. I'm going to have to scrimp and save until I get my wage packet._


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## Akire72

Sì Stint ha molti significati, che dipendono anche da come lo usi. Certo è che non è molto usato, come "stare a stecchetto". Questa ricerca mi ha dato molti siti cinesi che usano questo modo di dire:

*I have to stint* myself of food

Significa devo trattenermi dal mangiare? (quindi stare a stecchetto)?


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## london calling

Akire72 said:


> *I have to stint* myself of food
> 
> Significa devo trattenermi dal mangiare? (quindi stare a stecchetto)?


Technically, _to stint oneself of something_ is correct, but we don't use it much, to be honest. 

By the way, I'd translate it as "privarsi di qualcosa", so your translation is right (but the English sounds peculiar to me, even if it is correct!).

Getting back to diets, we also say "I have to cut down", meaning to eat less, but that doesn't necessarily mean a starvation diet.


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## Odysseus54

I don't think there is one idiom in English to exactly translate "stare a stecchetto", which is a catch-all phrase, which can be applied to many situation.

" Mi devo mettere/devo stare a stecchetto " , depending on the context, can mean :

" I have to go on a strict diet "
" I have to go on a strict budget "
" I have to stop drinking "
" I have to stop partying "
" I have to stop womanizing around"
" I have to stop wasting time on WorldReference "
etc etc


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## -GS-

Odysseus54 said:


> " I have to stop wasting time on WorldReference "



Heh! This sentence perfectly suits me!


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## Aidone

Un citazione da A. Camilleri, Donne p.73 in cui questo termine riferire al atto di fare amore:
"Non aveva figli perché ancora non ne voleva, d'altra parte con un marito come il suo...La teneva a stecchetto, sì e no una volta ogni tre mesi. E lei, che era dotata di un grosso temperamento, disse proprio così, soffriva assai."


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## london calling

Aidone said:


> Un citazione da A. Camilleri, Donne p.73 in cui questo termine riferire al atto di fare amore:
> "Non aveva figli perché ancora non ne voleva, d'altra parte con un marito come il suo...La teneva a stecchetto, sì e no una volta ogni tre mesi. E lei, che era dotata di un grosso temperamento, disse proprio così, soffriva assai."


And your suggested translation?


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## pebblespebbles

I think Aidone posted just to show the broad use of "stare a stecchetto".
Could it be correct to translate in this case : "La teneva a stecchetto. (..)"
with:
"He stinted on her. (...)"


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## london calling

Yes, but given that s/he is a native speaker s/he should have suggested a translation into English, as this is a translation forum.

'He stinted on her' works for me.


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## johngiovanni

"He kept her strictly rationed".
"He kept her on a strict regime".


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## pebblespebbles

Thanks London, and John. I answered because I thought Aidone knew how to translate the sentece and she only wanted to show how the _Italian _"stare a stecchetto" can be used in another context.
I translated with the same verb suggested earlier in this tread to know if I could use it properly.
Ciao!


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## italtrav

Another possibility is "to be on tight rations." So possibly, "He kept her on tight rations..." Alternatively, "He rationed it out..."

Also, to be or to be kept on short rations.


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## nsartor

Although I guess it's possible to use stint as a verb I've never heard it used that way in American English.  I understood it but it sounded wrong when translated that way.  "Stint" to me is mostly a noun defining a short length of time.  E.g. I had a short stint as an Italian translator but I got fired!

With regard to Aidone's  _ La teneva a stecchetto, sì e no una volta ogni tre mesi....   _It has sexual connotations so one way of saying it would be:  "I held out on her, giving it up (the sex) only once every 3 months."


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## You little ripper!

I would definitely not use 'stinted on her'. I think it sounds terrible! I prefer all the other suggestions made.


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## johngiovanni

Ciao nsartor.  I can't see how "La teneva..." could be "*I* held out on her".  The pronoun has to be "he".


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## King Crimson

I guess I'm in minority on this one, but I've always heard and used this idiom only in the context of food, diets and the like. For some reason, using it in other contexts (for example, money) sounds off to me, but again it may be just me.


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## Paulfromitaly

King Crimson said:


> I guess I'm in minority on this one, but I've always heard and used this idiom only in the context of food, diets and the like


Me too.
As I've pointed out already, Camilleri's Italian is anything but standard so I wouldn't use it as a reference to learn idioms.


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## london calling

You little ripper! said:


> I would definitely not use 'stinted on her'. I think it sounds terrible! I prefer all the other suggestions made.


It does, but it's correct. I also prefer the other suggestions.


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## Aidone

Sorry london, for not providing a translation.

Non aveva figli perché ancora non ne voleva, d'altra parte con un marito come il suo...La teneva a stecchetto, sì e no una volta ogni tre mesi. E lei, che era dotata di un grosso temperamento, disse proprio così, soffriva assai."

I would translate it as: ... "She didn't have children because as yet she didn't want them, but on the other hand with a husband like hers...who held out on her, (who deprived her), only now and then, once or twice a month. And she, who had a big nature, as she said, really suffered."


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## Pietruzzo

Aidone said:


> once or twice a month.


 Not so bad, after all, since the original rate was once every three months at the most.


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