# chi più ne ha più ne metta



## F4sT

ciauz
sono semplicemente curioso..
esiste un modo per dire "*chi più ne ha più ne metta" *in inglese?
grazie..
 F4sT


----------



## moodywop

F4sT said:
			
		

> ciauz
> sono semplicemente curioso..
> esiste un modo per dire "*chi più ne ha più ne metta" *in inglese?
> grazie..
> F4sT


 
Penso che si possa dire _and the list could go on for ever,_ ma i madrelingua troveranno certamente un'espressione migliore_._ Ho trovato un buon esempio in un articolo sulla lingua italiana, che, oltretutto, riguarda le parole inglesi che che adottiamo con troppa disinvoltura:


L’italiano contemporaneo è assediato da un lato da _“customer care”, “call center”, “welfare”, “wireless”, “future”_, e chi più ne ha più ne metta... Dall’altro lato è tutt’ora vittima, come e più che ai tempi di Calvino, dell’*antilingua* burocratica che offusca la comunicazione.


----------



## lsp

moodywop said:
			
		

> Penso che si possa dire _and the list could go on for ever,_ ma i madrelingua troveranno certamente un'espressione migliore_._ Ho trovato un buon esempio in un articolo sulla lingua italiana, che, oltretutto, riguarda le parole inglesi che che adottiamo con troppa disinvoltura:
> 
> 
> L’italiano contemporaneo è assediato da un lato da _“customer care”, “call center”, “welfare”, “wireless”, “future”_, e chi più ne ha più ne metta... Dall’altro lato è tutt’ora vittima, come e più che ai tempi di Calvino, dell’*antilingua* burocratica che offusca la comunicazione.


Never heard that one before and I would have guessed completely incorrectly without Moody's post. Is it like "e così via" (and so on, or - and so on and so forth)?

We also use Latin: etcetera ad infinitum


----------



## Jana337

Mi sembra simile a "you name it".

Jana

P.S. Neanch'io l'avrei capito bene senza la spiegazione fornita da Carlo. Grazie.


----------



## moodywop

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Mi sembra simile a "you name it".


 
Hai ragione, Jana. Non ci avevo pensato. "You name it" si usa esattamente allo stesso modo


----------



## mathof

"... uno studio televisivo è sempre un caos e ... diventa un porto di mare, fra giornalisti, manager, addetti stampa e chi piú ne ha piú ne metta." – from a short story by Giorgio Faletti in the collection "Crimini".

I suppose it means something like "those who the more they have of it [show business] the more they [want/need?] it." The word "metta" would seem to be the present subjunctive of "mettere", but I can't think how to translate it in the context, nor why it would be in the subjunctive when "avere" in the first part of the phrase is not.


----------



## kittykate

Hi mathof,

the whole sentence is _*chi *più ne ha più ne metta_

This is a previous thread on the subject

caterina


----------



## mathof

Garzie mille, Caterina. Capisco adesso.

Matt


----------



## Americanbella

Hello!  I need help understanding this obviously flirty comment from a boyfriend.  
'Bacio, bacione, bacini, e chi piu ne ha piu ne mette'

Thank you again.


----------



## M_07

Boyfriend? Your boyfriend?.

'Bacio, bacione, bacini, e chi piu ne ha piu ne mett*a*'
Kiss, big kiss, , little kiss, and so on... like Lsp said.


----------



## Americanbella

marzia07 said:


> Boyfriend? Your boyfriend?.
> 
> 'Bacio, bacione, bacini, e chi piu ne ha piu ne mett*a*'
> Kiss, big kiss, , little kiss, and so on... like Lsp said.


 
Thanks so much, Marzia07, but could you please clarify if possible (just for my own sanity! what "e chi piu ne ha piu" exactly means? I assume that ne metta is "no matter". 
Is this something very "intimate" to say?  Not just flirty?


----------



## M_07

You don't have to separate the phrase, it is an Italian  saying.
The sense of the whole  phrase is and so on...

I hope you will understand.


----------



## fabry2811

Comunque ci sono alcuni thread sull'argomento, forse saranno d'aiuto.


----------



## Americanbella

Thank you so much...that helps GREATLY!!!


----------



## Americanbella

fabry2811 said:


> Comunque ci sono alcuni thread sull'argomento, forse saranno d'aiuto.


 
Would you be so kind, Fabry2811, as to translate this for me if possible?  Thanks so much!


----------



## TimLA

Americanbella said:


> Would you be so kind, Fabry2811, as to translate this for me if possible? Thanks so much!


 
Fabry's off line, so here's a go:

Comunque ci sono alcuni thread sull'argomento, forse saranno d'aiuto.

Anyway, there are a few threads on this subject, perhaps they will be of help.


----------



## Americanbella

Thank you TimLA.  I will check them out!


----------



## M_07

Non vorrei sbagliarmi ma a me sembra che questo sia l'unico thread su questo argomento.

Maybe you Tim have a good translation for this phrase.


----------



## brian

marzia07 said:


> Non vorrei sbagliarmi ma a me sembra che questo sia l'unico thread su questo argomento.



_I hope I'm not wrong but it seems to me that this is the only thread on this topic._  (I'm stealing Tim's spotlight!)

Anyway, for anyone who does want the literal translation, here's my attempt:

_chi più ne ha più ne metta = he who has more (of them), may he put/place more (of them) / may whoever knows more add (put/say) more_

So the literal idea is, "...and whoever knows of more, let him say them." So in a list, the sense is: "X, Y, Z, and if anyone can think of more, then those too."

More broadly, "X, Y, Z, .. and all the rest / and so on and so forth / and whatever else / etc."


----------



## Americanbella

Hey Brian8733,
Marzia07 really helped. I know there are some things that just don't "translate" word for word really from Italian. 
The actual phrase he said to me was 
"Bacio...bacione...bacini...e chi piu ne ha piu ne metta". 
We are flirty friends, but do care alot, and it was important to me to get the meaning just right. It seems in Italian there are many ways to say similiar things, but the slightest change in a word can make it very different. 

Thanks for adding!


----------



## TimLA

marzia07 said:


> Non vorrei sbagliarmi ma a me sembra che questo sia l'unico thread su questo argomento.
> Maybe you Tim have a good translation for this phrase.


 
I can add nothing to Brian's excellent analysis.
(Please Brian, steal anything as much as you wish! )

I love idioms in any language, because they teach me about the language itself and those who speak it.
Perhaps a different way of attacking it:

chi più ne ha più ne metta

so let's add a comma to break it up and make it sound right to AE ears:

chi più ne ha, più ne metta

Now let's do individual words (as done by Brian):

___chi__________più_____ne_____ha_,__più_____ne___metta
who/he who_____more___of it____has_,_more___of it___puts

So to put all of it together, in a non-idiomatic form:
The more you have, the more you want to put it.

But to me, the key to the phrase is the context, and I could imagine many "underlying meanings".

'Bacio, bacione, bacini, e chi piu ne ha piu ne mett*a*'
Kiss, big kiss, little kisses...and the more I get the more I want.
meaning:
_______________________just joking about the kisses.
_______________________I'd like to kiss you some more.
_______________________I'd like to go beyond kisses.

So again, this is so contextual, I think you'll have to help us with the meaning.

Great phrase...I even used it in a post yesterday!!!


----------



## Americanbella

TimLA,
This is becoming a very hot thread. Little did I know...
We always end our emails with bacio,...bacini,...:* that type of thing. Flirty, but not much to it.
Then he writes this. 

I really wanted to understand it CLEARLY, because it's like he's finally saying something he's never said (we have a flirty, but caring, thing). Mostly friendship, and this to me seemed stronger than what he's said before, so I wanted to make sure I understood him well.  Enough info, or shall I go fur...thur...hehehe. (Actually, that's really it!)

Thanks, guys!!!


----------



## brian

Yo Tim, I don't think it means "the more kisses I get, the more I want." I don't think the idea of "want" really enters at all. The meaning of "metta," which is subjunctive, is "may he add/put/place (them)." The most literal translation is this:

_he who of them has more (*to say/put/add*), of them let him (may he) put/place/add/say/name more._

Americanbella, I don't think this guy is really saying much more than "...and all the rest."  The idea is this: there are many ways of saying "kisses" in Italian as a way of affectionately saying "bye"--_bacio, bacione, bacino, baci, bacioni, bacini, un bacio, un bacione, _etc. etc. etc. He didn't want to write just one of them, but he of course didn't want to write them _all_. So he says: _bacio, bacini, ... and all the rest_.

I don't see anything more in it. Sorry.


----------



## giovannino

TimLA said:
			
		

> ___chi______più___ne__ha_,__più___ne__metta
> who/he who_more_of it_has_,_more_of it_puts


 
Hi Tim, I just wanted to point out that "metta" is a present subjunctive, used as an exhortation: "let him put/add more". 
To me what it means is: if anybody can think of any more items to add to this list let please feel free to do so since the list is endless/could go on forever.
So to me it's not exactly like "and so on/forth" but more like "and on and on".
Let me give you an example. I could list a few examples of a corrupt politician's misdeeds. Then, by adding "e chi più ne ha più ne metta" I'm suggesting that the list of his misdeeds could go on forever, that you can add to my list all the misdeeds you can think of as that politician is bound to have perpetrated those as well.
I can think of quite a few Italian politicians this example could be used for


----------



## TimLA

giovannino said:


> Hi Tim, I just wanted to point out that "metta" is a present subjunctive, used as an exhortation: "let him put/add more".
> To me what it means is: if anybody can think of any more items to add to this list let please feel free to do so since the list is endless/could go on forever.
> So to me it's not exactly like "and so on/forth" but more like "and on and on".
> Let me give you an example. I could list a few examples of a corrupt politician's misdeeds. Then, by adding "e chi più ne ha più ne metta" I'm suggesting that the list of his misdeeds could go on forever, that you can add to my list all the misdeeds you can think of as that politician is bound to have perpetrated those as well.
> I can think of quite a few Italian politicians this example could be used for


 
Gotcha! Thanks.
I assume it's synonymous with "...e così via..." as I've used it in the past.


----------



## Americanbella

brian8733 said:


> Yo Tim, I don't think it means "the more kisses I get, the more I want." I don't think the idea of "want" really enters at all. The meaning of "metta," which is subjunctive, is "may he add/put/place (them)." The most literal translation is this:
> 
> _he who of them has more (*to say/put/add*), of them let him (may he) put/place/add/say/name more._
> 
> Americanbella, I don't think this guy is really saying much more than "...and all the rest."  The idea is this: there are many ways of saying "kisses" in Italian as a way of affectionately saying "bye"--_bacio, bacione, bacino, baci, bacioni, bacini, un bacio, un bacione, _etc. etc. etc. He didn't want to write just one of them, but he of course didn't want to write them _all_. So he says: _bacio, bacini, ... and all the rest_.
> 
> I don't see anything more in it. Sorry.


 
Brian, It's not THAT "just-friendly" with he and I.  Not trying to read more than it is, really...but I know him pretty well.  I detect underlying meaning, and I wanted to understand how I could take it.  It's fine if it's nothing, if he was just saying bacio, bacini, and all the rest (lightly and jokingly)...but it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the letter. But, you may be right!   Thank you for the time to help.


----------



## maria vecchi

Hallo, I was quickly browsing this thread, and I thought the Italian phrase can also translate into "the more, the better".
I came up with this idea because I needed to keep the idea of quantity, is that okay?


----------



## translatorfromtuscany

I just was wondering if the italian set phrase "chi più ne ha più ne metta", given the context of a list of items, could also be rendered with "....and what have You". Eagerly waiting for some native's comment


----------



## johngiovanni

The expression "...and what have" does have the sense of "...and anything else of a similar sort", but I do not think it underlines the exceptional quantity of the things that could be listed in addition to those already listed.
"You name it", "...and the list goes on (and on)", "...and the list could go on (for ever)" - these _would_ underline the quantity.


----------



## tsoapm

translatorfromtuscany said:


> I *was just* wondering if the *I*talian set phrase "chi più ne ha più ne metta", given the context of a list of items, could also be rendered with "....and what have *y*ou".


That seems fine to me. No need to capitalise ‘you’ though.


----------



## King Crimson

I wonder whether and then some could work in some contexts.


----------



## johngiovanni

That's interesting, KC.  I'm not used to hearing "and then some" at the end of a list.  I have heard it in contexts where people are implying that what they have already said is an understatement, as in the examples in your link.
But others may have heard it used at the end of lists.


----------



## King Crimson

Yes jg, that's precisely why I was seeking a native speaker's opinion. If I read the definition given in the link I posted (_and even more; and more than has been mentioned_) that seems a very close approximation of "e chi più ne ha più ne metta", but when I translate into Italian the examples in my link "e chi più ne ha più ne metta" just doesn't sound right.


----------

