# come sarebbe a dire



## askintop

Dear All

What is the meaning of " come sarebbe ", I think it should mean sth like , what does that mean . Am I correct ?

Please enlighten me accordingly

ASKIN TOP, Turkia


----------



## europefranc

askintop said:


> Dear All
> 
> What is the meaning of " come sarebbe ", I think it should mean sth like , what does that mean? Am I correct ?
> 
> Please enlighten me accordingly
> 
> ASKIN TOP, Turkia



Hello askintop,

Could you please write down the whole sentence with "come sarebbe"? 

Thank you


----------



## translation studies

Could you please provide the entire sentence or at least some context?

We would be able to help you!



TS


----------



## askintop

Ok,

It is only " come sarebbe ?"

In the movie " ELIMINATOR by Arnold ", somebody told to his uncle , somebody did not pay, his uncle replied , come sarebbe, he wanted to express his surprise.


----------



## london calling

Hello!
You're quite right,  we'd say "what's that supposed to mean?"

_Come sarebbe?_ is often short for _come sarebbe a dire?_


----------



## translation studies

In this case I would translate with "how's that"?

Hope it helps

TS


----------



## Einstein

What do you mean?
How can that be?

PS I'm not sure about "How's that?" We usually say this to mean "Che ne dici?", "What do you think?".


----------



## askintop

Cara Tutti

tanto grazie per gli rispondi

Come sarebbe a dire ? is much better

By the way, I want to come over to İtaly next year to study italian advancedly

Can you reccomend me some language course in italy

Regards


----------



## london calling

Einstein said:


> What do you mean?
> How can that be?
> 
> PS I'm not sure about "How's that?" We usually say this to mean "Che ne dici?", "What do you think?".


 
_How's that?_ is what my dad often used to say before he got his digital hearing-aid,  so to me it means more: "Didn't catch that! What was that you said?"


----------



## europefranc

askintop said:


> Cari tutti
> 
> Tanto grazie per gli rispondile risposte/aver risposto.
> 
> Come sarebbe a dire ? is much better.
> 
> By the way, I want to come over to İtaly next year to study Italian advancedly
> 
> Can you reccomend me some language course in Italy?
> 
> Regards




Ho corretto qualche errore.


----------



## Bartolo76

*Come sarebbe a dire?*
Mi servirebbe la traduzione più in voga in inglese britannico (BE) e americano (AE).

Potrebbe andare, molto semplicemente, *WHAT DO YOU MEAN ?* oppure ci sono altre espressioni?


----------



## You little ripper!

_Meaning? _(used in BE, AE and AusE)_
Say what?_ (I think this one is BE)


----------



## dinah

Che ne pensi Charles di "What do you mean by that" ?


----------



## You little ripper!

dinah said:


> Che ne pensi Charles di "What do you mean by that" ?


Dinah, that's perfect standard English, and is something I would say. However, I think Bartolo wanted something more 'in voga', which is why I suggested the ones I did.  I'm not really sure I understand exactly what he means by that; maybe something used more by younger people.


----------



## dinah

Ok Thanks! I often use that phrase, now I know that there are alternatives more "in voga"


----------



## miri

"Come sarebbe a dire" implies a sort of disagreement or disappointment with what the person one is talking to has said. It is more of an exclamation than a real question.
Does "What do you mean by that?" convey the same attitude?


----------



## dinah

So Miri you suggest it is more like the English expression "what are you talking about?"


----------



## You little ripper!

miri said:


> "Come sarebbe a dire" implies a sort of disagreement or disappointment with what the person one is talking to has said. It is more of an exclamation than a real question.
> Does "What do you mean by that?" convey the same attitude?


Yes, miri, it can. It's all in the way it's said (and the facial expression).


----------



## miri

Maybe Dinah, but I'm not sure ...

Charles, let me check if it works by providing two examples:

Come sarebbe a dire "non mi piace"?!Ci ho messo 3 ore per fare questa torta!!
What do you mean by "I don't like it"?! It took me 3 hours to make this cake!!

Come sarebbe a dire "non vengo"?! Me l'avevi promesso!!
What do you mean by "I'm not going"?! You'd promised me you would!!

Is the English version (with "What do you mean by") I provided what you would say in those situations?


----------



## You little ripper!

miri said:


> Maybe Dinah, but I'm not sure ...
> 
> Charles, let me check if it works by providing two examples:
> 
> Come sarebbe a dire "non mi piace"?!Ci ho messo 3 ore per fare questa torta!!
> What do you mean by "I don't like it"?! It took me 3 hours to make this cake!!
> 
> Come sarebbe a dire "non vengo"?! Me l'avevi promesso!!
> What do you mean by "I'm not going"?! You'd promised me you would!!
> 
> Is the English version (with "What do you mean by") I provided what you would say in those situations?


Yes, if accompanied by this  or  this.


----------



## miri

!

Thank you, Charles


----------



## You little ripper!

miri said:


> !
> 
> Thank you, Charles


If you just want the words to express "come sarebbe a dire", Jo's suggestion, "What's that supposed to mean?" is a perfect suggestion. No facial expression really needed here; only if you want to emphasize.


----------



## miri

Thanks again Charles! Jo's suggestion escaped my notice.
 I think "What's that supposed to mean" is the exact equivalent


----------



## GavinW

miri said:


> Maybe Dinah, but I'm not sure ...
> 
> Charles, let me check if it works by providing two examples:
> 
> Come sarebbe a dire "non mi piace"?!Ci ho messo 3 ore per fare questa torta!!
> What do you mean by "I don't like it"?! It took me 3 hours to make this cake!!
> 
> Come sarebbe a dire "non vengo"?! Me l'avevi promesso!!
> What do you mean by "I'm not going"?! You'd promised me you would!!
> 
> Is the English version (with "What do you mean by") I provided what you would say in those situations?


 
Yes, good, exactly. But take out "by": "What do you mean, 'I'm not coming'?"

Or also, sometimes:
"'I'm not coming'? What's that supposed to mean?"


----------



## miri

GavinW said:


> But take out "by": "What do you mean, 'I'm not coming'?"



Thank you, Gavin! That sounds much smoother!


----------



## GavinW

miri said:


> Thank you, Gavin! That sounds much smoother!


 
Mind you, for Monty Python fans, there is also this:
"PININ' for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?"
;-)


----------



## You little ripper!

GavinW said:


> Yes, good, exactly. But take out "by": "What do you mean, 'I'm not coming'?"
> 
> Or also, sometimes:
> "'I'm not coming'? What's that supposed to mean?"


Gavin, the 'by' in that sentence might not be necessary, but it's perfectly acceptable.


----------



## miri

Unfortunately I am not a Monty Python fan, Gavin but I guess  the sentence refers to the way "fiords" is pronounced and the use of "pinin'". If I am wrong, please correct me.
If I am right, wouldn't that be "Ma come parli" in Italian?


----------



## GavinW

Charles Costante said:


> Gavin, the 'by' in that sentence might not be necessary, but it's perfectly acceptable.


 
True, and I didn't want to suggest otherwise. Mine was just a glib way of saying I think it's often clearer, or more "natural", without it, especially if the word or expression quoted is longish. Thus:

"Dead"? What do you mean (by) "dead"? He's resting!

But:

What do you mean "there's no point going to the party if Dan's not going to be there"? There'll be plenty of other interesting people to talk to. [where the inclusion of "by" may appear to be intolerably otiose] 

But I'll happily admit I may be on a slightly sticky wicket here.

EDIT: Miri: not really, he's not referring explicitly to the sound, although that is a factor, and I must say I do like your "(ma) come parli?". I had thought of this line as illustrating well the use of "come sarebbe a dire", but as it happens it also illustrates very well "come parli?".


----------



## You little ripper!

GavinW said:


> True, and I didn't want to suggest otherwise. Mine was just a glib way of saying I think it's often clearer, or more "natural", without it, especially if the word or expression quoted is longish. Thus:
> 
> "Dead"? What do you mean (by) "dead"? He's resting!
> 
> But:
> 
> What do you mean "there's no point going to the party if Dan's not going to be there"? There'll be plenty of other interesting people to talk to. [where the inclusion of "by" may appear to be intolerably otiose]
> 
> But I'll happily admit I may be on a slightly sticky wicket here.


I agree that the context determines what sounds best, but in most cases I don't think it really matters. Having said that, I wouldn't use the 'by' in either of your examples (when someone is presumed dead you don't want to waste any time using a word that's unnecessary).


----------



## pericolosi

> Aggiungeva qualche notizia pratica, *come sarebbe*: "Cinquemila cavalieri, tremilacinquecento fanti, ..."



Can this be translated like this:
He added some practical notes, such as: "Fivethousand knights, ..."

Any alternatives?


----------

