# provare sulla propria pelle



## orangemonster

Hey!

I'm trying to translate the italian expression into english 'pagare sulla propria pelle', can anyone help please?  

The whole sentence is "un italiano su cinque però ha già pagato o paga sulla propria pelle il peso della malattia'

Thanks ever so much


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## sam1978

It means that one Italian to five has personally experienced the sickness.
I don't know if it's grammaticcally correct to say: "One to five" in English, but I hope this helps you.


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## GavinW

orangemonster said:


> Hey!
> 
> I'm trying to translate the italian expression into english 'pagare sulla propria pelle', can anyone help please?
> 
> The whole sentence is "un italiano su cinque però ha già pagato o paga sulla propria pelle il peso della malattia'
> 
> Thanks ever so much


 
One out of every five Italians has had first-hand experience of the illness. (Or: "...direct experience...")
Or:
One in (every) five people in Italy...

But:
I think it's possible to interpret this sentence in another way, with a specific reference to the "burden" of the illness, suggesting the (eg financial) consequence of the illness (having to pay for the drugs or treatment, etc).


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## Lynkos

Here I am back again with another of these tricky ones you're all sooo good at . The context is a leaflet for a golf course which opens with the subtitle: "Il bello si vive sulla pelle", then goes on to describe golf as a game which "deve essere vissuto sulla pelle, ma anche nella testa". My problem is how to translate "sulla pelle" literally enough to maintain the contrast between "pelle" and "testa". Any ideas...? Thanks, Sarah.


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## underhouse

L'espressione è "provare/vivere qualcosa sulla propria pelle" e in genere è riferita ad un'esperienza negativa.


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## lautaro

Hai ragione underhouse, ma qui mi sa che è un gioco di parole per far rendere conto chi si iscriverà a questo corso che ci sarà da sudare.
Io userei "physically" and "mentally"...non mi viene in mente niente altro.


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## pescara

Forse "golf is a game that tests/challenges the body and the mind."

Ciao.


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## london calling

pescara said:


> Forse "golf is a game that tests/challenges the body and the mind."


 
Yes, I was thinking of something along those lines, too!

...brings body and mind together....
...a unique experience for body and mind....

 Too loose, probably!


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## Lynkos

I think probably "pescara" and "london calling" are pretty well there, for the second phrase at least. But it still leaves me blocked for the first phase: "Il bello si vive sulla pelle" .


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## baldpate

Could it be "The best part is living the experience"?  "The best part is experiencing it"?  Anything like?


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## miri

What about " to get under your skin"?
b.to affect deeply; impress; penetrate: That sort of music always gets under my skin. (Dictionary.com)
The problem is that it can also mean "to irritate"!

"What is enjoyable always gets under your skin" ???


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## baldpate

Brilliant! Thank you, miri !

With "to get under your skin" you have managed to clarify for me the phrase "vivere sulla pelle" (fino ad ora quasi del tutto opaca, poco chiara), and with "to irritate" you have explained why underhouse said "in genere è riferita ad un'esperienza negativa".

Building on your "What is enjoyable always gets under your skin", I would suggest the very colloquial "gets to you".  Something can "get to you" either because it excites and stimulates you positively ("The lyrics of that song really get to me! I want to cry for joy every time I hear it"), or negatively ("The thing that gets to me is the sheer stupidity of politicians!")

How about "The best really gets to you!"

Comunque, grazie mille per l'illuminazione, miri


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## miri

Baldpate, sei sempre gentilissimo  !
I am sure that "get to you" would work great, I had thought of that, but then I re-read Lynkos's post: "My problem is how to translate "sulla pelle" literally enough to maintain the contrast between "pelle" and "testa"...


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## You little ripper!

I'm with baldpate here. *The best part is the experience/feeling // It must be experienced/felt.*

At least, that's the feeling I got from googling the expression.


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## Lynkos

An infinite thank-you to you all, as ever a great debate. I've yet to get to grips actually writing it down, but I like the "gets under your skin" suggestion from Miri, precisely because it enables me to maintain that very physical contrast of skin/body and mind/head. How I hate these plays on words !!!!


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## london calling

miri said:


> "What is enjoyable always gets under your skin" ???


Yes!  That reminds me of the famous Sinatra song: "I've got you under my skin!" I think it's usually a positive thing: if it were negative, I'd say "it really gets up my nose!"

How about:

Let the best things in life get under your skin....


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## Lynkos

london calling said:


> the best things in life get under your skin....


That's actually exactly what I ended up putting ! Have a good Sunday (working if you're like me)  everyone, Sarah.


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## Lorenza

Hi guys!
*I*'d like to receive your help in translating this sentence
l'ho vissuto sulla mia pelle
in english.
*A*ny suggest?
*T*hanks a lot!
Lore


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## miri

I'd say "because I've been through it myself", but I wonder whether there is a specific English idiom ...


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## pandinorombante

After searching in our forums, I couldn't find anything about this Italian fixed phrase.

Basically, it means that a person refers to a (typically bad) situation he/she already experienced himself/herself first.

1° Example (with a reference also to the physical nuance of the sentence):

A: "Non mi sono mai bruciato con il fuoco ma non deve essere piacevole"
B: "Non lo è affatto, io l'ho provato sulla mia pelle"

2° Example: 

A: "I miei genitori non sono divorziati"
B: "I miei invece sì, è una brutta situazione"
A: "Lo immagino..."
B: "Per capirlo fino in fondo, però, devi provarlo sulla tua pelle.. anche se non te lo auguro ovviamente!"

Any help about how to render this idiomatic sentence into English is definitely appreciated...


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## You little ripper!

1st example.

*I've experienced it/It's happened to me.*

2nd example.

*You need to have experienced it/ You need to have been through it.*

Here is a thread that touches on it.


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## pandinorombante

Charles, thank you so much, I completely forgot that "vivere sulla propria pelle" is another equivalent expression of "provare sulla propria pelle"... 

In any case, I knew I could render it with "to experience/to go through" but I wondered wheter there was an idiomatic sentence in English as well..   cause nobody answered to Miri's last question..


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## Drexciya

The opening phrase of a text *I'*m reading contains the following

"So bene - anche perché lo vivo sulla mia pelle da molti anni - che..."

Can someone explain in English what the author means by "vivo sulla mia pelle", as I assume there is more to it than its literal translation!

Thanks.


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## joel76

It means that I deeply feel it (because I am experiencing it..)

It's a metaphorical image.


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## sireal

Hello,
I've a question about the second part of this sentence.

"Nessuno può mai sapere di come si vive in prigione, se non lo si ha provato sulla propria pelle"

my translation is "Nobody could ever know how the life in prison is, if not deeply experienced"

ma c'è qualcosa che non quadra,
there is something that doesn't seem to be right,

can you please help me?

thanks!


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## jonesr

No one could ever know what prison life is like, if they haven't experienced it (themselves).

OR

No one could ever know what life in prison is like, if they haven't experienced it (themselves).


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## sireal

What's the difference in this case between "Nobody and No one" ?


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## Yulan

Hello Sireal 

Yes, I think Jonesr's suggestion works perfectly well.

As an alternative, maybe "You can not get what prison life actually is, unless you personally experience it" ? 

Ciao


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## Enigmista

La parte iniziale va bene per me...

Per la parte finale avrei scritto :  .._.If it is not first-hand experienced _


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## Mammavale

My try "you will never know what life in prison is like,unless you have experienced it yourself".But let's wait for the natives...


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## giovannino

Scusa, sireal, ma la frase italiana non mi quadra. Non dovrebbe essere o

_Nessuno può mai sapere di come si vive in prigione, se non lo si ha provato sulla propria pelle_

o

_Non si può sapere come si vive in prigione, se non lo si è provato sulla propria pelle_

?


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## jonesr

sireal said:


> What's the difference in this case between "Nobody and No one" ?


 
There's no significant difference; it's just personal preference.



Enigmista said:


> La parte iniziale va bene per me...
> 
> Per la parte finale avrei scritto : .._.If it is not first-hand experienced _


 
" ..... experienced at first hand" perhaps.



Mammavale said:


> My try "you will never know what life in prison is like,unless you have experienced it yourself".But let's wait for the natives...


 
Native opinion: perfectly good option.  The use of "You" assumes a less formal type of text.


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## Enigmista

jonesr said:


> " ..... experienced at first hand" perhaps.



Do you think my version is wrong ?


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## sireal

I need a formal level, because it's for the introduction of a sort of essay


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## jonesr

Enigmista said:


> Do you think my version is wrong ?


 
To my ear, first hand is adjectival, requiring a noun that it describes, e.g.  .... unless based on first hand experience.

Others may feel differently.


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## sireal

is this right?


"No one could ever know what the prison life is like, unless based on first hand experience"

?


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## jonesr

sireal said:


> is this right?
> 
> 
> "No one could ever know what the prison life is like, unless based on first hand experience"
> 
> ?


 
I'm afraid not, because "based" has no relevant noun to refer to.


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## Enigmista

jonesr said:


> To my ear, first hand is adjectival, requiring a noun that it describes, e.g.  .... unless based on first hand experience.
> 
> Others may feel differently.



Maybe you're right...you're the native 

But I often found this construction 

http://www.intelligent-investment.co.uk/our_team.php

http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?174000-Transit-VISA-LONDON

http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t183376/


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## jonesr

To Enigmista:
Perhaps it's American English; I'm British.
I hadn't heard it before and it sounded strange.


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## Enigmista

jonesr said:


> To Enigmista:
> Perhaps it's American English; I'm British.
> I hadn't heard it before and it sounded strange.



Ok..I've just wanted to show you that I previously encountered that "structure"...Thank you...


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## sireal

at the end i used this one:


No one could ever know what the prison life is like, if they haven’t actually experienced it themselves


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## johngiovanni

Ciao sireal! In the end you have a good English sentence, but consider dropping "the" before "prison". The "the" is the only thing which makes this sentence sound slightly "un-English".


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