# sono in crisi di astinenza



## giginho

Buongiorno Forum!

Oggi si parla di crisi di astinenza in senso figurato.

Il contesto preciso è: 

Sono due giorni che un collega (chiamiamolo A) è arrabbiato e non ci si può scherzare. Oggi ho chiesto ad un terzo collega (chiamaiamolo K) se il collega A è ancora arrabbiato o se gli è passata e quindi posso ricominciare a prenderlo in giro e ho detto:

"A è ancora incazzato nero? Posso prenderlo in giro? Sai, sono in crisi di astinenza!"

Mio tentativo di traduzione:

A is still pissed off? Can I take the piss out of him? You know, *I'm going cold turkey on it*!"

Non sono per nulla sicuro di *to go cold turkey*......so che si usa quando si smette di fumare /drogarsi e si va in crisi di astinenza ma non so se è concesso un uso figurato!

Grazie a tutti!


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## mabimabi

Direi I'm running dry, ma non so perché.


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## giginho

Ciao Mabimabi e grazie!

Vediamo se passa di qui qualche nativo e ci da un'idea e un parere!!!


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## Einstein

You could also say "I'm suffering from withdrawal symptoms!" or "I've got..."
It's what we say literally when talking about drugs but it's well enough known to be used jokingly. I'm not sure that you can use "cold turkey" figuratively, because it's already figurative when talking about drug withdrawal.


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## curiosone

Going "cold turkey" is the result of a decision to quit (smoking, or drinking, or whatever is addictive), and it implies stopping immediately, not gradually (by slowly cutting down).  In this context, you didn't DECIDE to quit teasing A.  You are simply refraining from it, for a period (and not because you think it's bad for YOU).  In this case it's more a case of "withdrawal symptoms" or "withdrawal pains."

So here's my version (correcting some of your grammar along the way):
"Is A still pissed off? Or can I tease him a bit?" [or:  "Or can I tease him out of it?"  You know, I'm having withdrawal pains."

(Comment:  I rather like your form of "Can I take the piss out of him?" even tho' I've never heard it before, and don't think it translates the original concept of "teasing")


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## Teerex51

giginho said:


> "A è ancora incazzato nero? Posso prenderlo in giro? Sai, sono in crisi di astinenza!"


Ciao Gigi, I don't know about the "turkey" in this particular case.

What about tweaking the sentence a little bit: _Is A still pissed off? Can I start teasing him again? I get the heebie-jeebies when I don't [tease him for a while]. _

If this works for you we can fine-tune it further...


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## giginho

Thank you all!

I like the TR's _heebie-jeebies_ very much!

So you all suggested me to substitute "take the piss out" with "to tease"......could you explain me the difference?

P.S. thanks for correcting my errors!


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## Teerex51

In BE, _to take the piss out of_ is synonymous with _to tease_, only a little less refined...
You could also say _to pick on him._


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## london calling

giginho said:


> So you all suggested me to substitute "take the piss out *of*..." with "to tease".


Remember "to extract the Michael" (to take the mickey/to mickey-take, Gigigno?) Same thing!


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## giginho

london calling said:


> Remember "to extract the Michael" (to take the mickey/to mickey-take, Gigigno?) Same thing!



Yeah! I do remember, LC!!!!  but Curiosone has destroyed my confidence about that with his comment! (post #5)


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## Teerex51

Gigi, I hope you don't mind me correcting this little habit of yours 


> you all suggested *me *to substitute





> could you explain *me*



The above verbs don't work in English as they do in Italian (_suggeriscimi, spiegami etc_.)

Most of the times, the "me" is redundant. The phrase works just as well without the pronoun, as its presence is implied:


_you all suggested to replace..._
_could you explain...._
If you need to use a pronoun for clarity or for emphasis, then you need to do this:


_Could you explain that for me?_
_Is there a hotel you could recommend for us?_
_I suggested to him to wash his hands, _or better_ (in my view) I suggested he wash his hands, _or_ (BE) I suggested he should wash his hands._


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## Anja.Ann

Teerex51 said:


> Gigi, I hope you don't mind me correcting this little habit of yours



Uh, here you are, prof!  
I like the "heebie-jeebies" very much


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## giginho

Tee, figurati se io maindo!!!!! Anzi, grazie mille delle dritte così imparo....è fastidioso sbagliare sempre quando nessuno mi corregge, mi sento cretino!!

I love this forum!!!!!


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## Anja.Ann

giginho said:


> Tee, figurati se io mindo!!!!! Anzi, grazie mille delle dritte così imparo ... I love this forum!!!!!



Ciao, Gigi caro!  
Considering that you don't _mind_ ...


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## Teerex51

Anja.Ann said:


> Uh, here you are, prof!
> I like the "heebie-jeebies" very much



Hi Anja 
Funny how you guys have taken to _the heebie-jeebies_. It's a very old AE expression, but there's more: _the jitters_ or _the shakes _are not as colorful but they basically mean the same thing...


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## london calling

giginho said:


> Yeah! I do remember, LC!!!!  but Curiosone has destroyed my confidence about that with his comment! (post #5)


_To take the piss out of someone_ (prendere qualcuno per il culo) is BE, not AE, that's why *she*  questioned it. And it means _to tease_ (prendere in giro qualcuno).


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## giginho

Ah, ok..........you restore my confidence!!!!


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## Anja.Ann

> ... _the heebie-jeebies ... _It's a very old AE expression ...



Ciao, Tee! This explains why I did not know it!  [just kidding you, of course ]





Teerex51 said:


> ... _the jitters_ or _the shakes ..._



Thank you, Tee! I've just enriched my vocabulary!


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## curiosone

Thanks also, Tex, for the explanation that "to take the piss out of" is BE, as I wasn't familiar with the expression, and couldn't confirm whether (or not) it translated the concept of teasing.  
However if everyone likes "heebie-jeebies" (hadn't heard THAT one in a long time! - and it's nice to think that Tex may have created a fashion among Italian translators!), I suggest avoiding a "BE only" expression like "piss-off," as mixing BE and AE metaphors might be confusing even to native speakers.  I vote for "pick on" - which is a bit more fun than "tease" and which I think goes better with "heebie-jeebies."  

Which would bring us to:
_Is A still pissed off? Can I start picking on him again? I get the heebie-jeebies when I don't tease him for a while.
_or:_
Is A still pissed off? Can I start teasing him again? I get the heebie-jeebies when I don't pick on him for a while._


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## Anja.Ann

Ciao, Curiosone 

Thank you: "pick on" sounds so good to my Italian ears  

Oh, BTW ... Tee,  where are you prof? You know, I get the heebie-jeebies when I don't pick on you for a while!


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## Teerex51

Anja.Ann said:


> Oh, BTW ... Tee,  where are you prof? You know, I get the heebie-jeebies when I don't pick on you for a while!



Sure, go on and _pick on me_ all you like while I'm busy _making an honest buck_... (betcha you didn't know that one, huh, smartypants?)


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## GavinW

Much as it pains me, I think heebie-jeebies is wrong, because:

1) In BE (at least), it means to be afraid, or anxiously nervous. Nothing to do with withdrawal symptoms.
2) Even if (in AE, presumably?) it has the same meaning as "the jitters" or "the shakes", I think none of those solutions work. Because of the context. The Italian term is metaphorical. Or general. The English terms are all related to some kind of drug (whether hard or soft). Just like "cold turkey", in fact (which has been correctly dismissed). The only remotely universal term I can think of is "I get withdrawal symptoms" (see below).
The problem has a lot to do with "crisi", which we all know is bandied around in Italian much more than any one identifiable term is in English. (Right? Right!).
I'd go for something looser, more idiomatic, and perhaps more creative. As well as more natural.
Like: Sono in crisi = 
1. It's been a while, you know. 
2. It's been too long.
3. I go out of my mind after a while without taking the rise out of you.
4. If I don't tease you every so often, I start seeing hairs on the back of my hand.
5. I need to tease you now and then, otherwise I start climbing up the walls / I break out in a cold sweat.

or, perhaps my favourite (for accuracy):
6. I get withdrawal symptoms if I haven't made fun of you for a while. 
etc

EDIT: I just read post 1 properly, and realized most of my suggestions are too strong. The term is very mild in the original context. The feeling is much more benign. My first 2 suggestions work ok, but I'm now moving more in the direction of "It's starting to be a bit too long", "It's beginning to get to me", "I don't know if I can last out much longer".


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## Lorena1970

GavinW said:


> My first 2 suggestions work ok, but I'm now moving more in the direction of "It's starting to be a bit too long", "It's beginning to get to me", "I don't know if I can last out much longer".



In case you would appreciate an opinion, these sound the best to my non-native ears too (together with point 6) to render the OP topic.


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## rrose17

Not to rain on any one's parade here but "it gives me the heebie-jeebies" to me, means it creeps me out. It makes me feel really uncomfortable, like a haunted house, or a really unpleasant person. Another suggestion
_Is A still all mad? Can I start poking fun at him/making fun of him again? I'm dying to do it!

_edit: I just saw now Gavin's post...


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## Teerex51

rrose17 said:


> Not to rain on any one's parade here but...


No rain, no parade. Just opinions. And we all know what they say about opinions...


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## GavinW

rrose17 said:


> _I'm dying to (do it)! _


 (My brackets) ;-)

There is no such thing as perfection, of course. But this seems to come close...

@TR: Hey, TR, can you be more specific, or am I inviting trouble for myself?  I'd appreciate your input.


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## london calling

rrose17 said:


> Not to rain on any one's parade here but "it gives me the heebie-jeebies" to me, means it creeps me out. It makes me feel really uncomfortable, like a haunted house, or a really unpleasant person.


I agree with you and Gavin. That's exactly what I've always felt it meant. Something that gives you the heebie-jeebies gives you the creeps.


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## GavinW

london calling said:


> I agree with you and Gavin. That's exactly what I've always felt it meant. Something that gives you the heebie-jeebies gives you the creeps.



Right. Now if only there was a specific emoticon to illustrate the concept...! ;-)


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## london calling

GavinW said:


> Right. Now if only there was a specific emoticon to illustrate the concept...! ;-)


 shiver, shake!


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## curiosone

Admittedly, one of the connotations of "heebie-jeebies" can be "the creeps,"  so it might not be as appropriate as we thought.  However when I checked the definition of heebie-jeebies, I found this (which would fit with "withdrawal symptoms"):
*Heebie-jeebies* or *heebie jeebies* is an American English idiom used to describe depression or anxiety. This can be as an after-effect of excessive alcohol intake (see Delirium tremens) or to describe a particular type of anxiety usually related to a certain person or place. For example, "He gives me the heebie jeebies", meaning "He makes me uncomfortably nervous". It can also refer to a particular form of intense apprehension, verging on horror, that is associated with opiate withdrawal.
The sound of this term seems to hark back to earlier rhyming phrases, like _hocus-pocus_ and _mumbo-jumbo_, with a touch of _the jitters_ thrown in. The meaning is more like the British term - the_screaming abdabs_.


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## GavinW

Thanks Curiosone, interesting -- although it would have been even better to know the source of the definition! ;-)
What you say vindicates TR's original suggestion, but would not seem to work so well for British ears. Looks like the idiom changed its connotations a bit when it travelled over the water (West to East).


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## london calling

curiosone said:


> The meaning is more like the British term - the_screaming abdabs_.


Thanks, Curio. Good to know.

However, in BE you would normally  "have a fit of the screaming abdabs"/" have a fit with your leg up", which involves jumping up and down, screaming and quite possibly pulling your hair out, but usually because you're furious, not because you've got the jitters or you're having withdrawal symptoms.


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## rrose17

Not to belabour the point but if you look a little further down the citation posted by Curious you'll read this


> The term is widely attributed to Billy DeBeck. The first citation of it in print is certainly in a 1923 cartoon of his, in the 26th October edition of the _New York American_:
> You dumb ox - why don't you get that stupid look offa your pan - you gimme the heeby jeebys!


which to my mind goes back to giving me the creeps.


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