# Mi raccomando, Giuseppe: sempre in gamba!



## BlackEagle

I’m working on the English version of my novel, and I’m trying to figure what the best way to translate this sentence would be,

“Mi raccomando, Giuseppe: sempre in gamba!”

The existing threads on “Mi raccomando,” do not seem to help in this case. As far as I can tell, there is no way to use for this sentence words like, ‘Beg,’ ‘Please,’ ‘Sorry,’ ‘Warn,’ ‘Urge,’ ‘for goodness sake,’ ‘got it,’ and the like.

As for threads on “in gamba,” the only two terms that kind of intrigued me are, ‘on the ball,’ and ‘sharp.’

“Mi raccomando, Giuseppe: sempre in gamba!” is a very nice and friendly line you might tell any of your friends while passing by… Mutatis mutandis, it’s like saying, “Hey Joe, keep it up!”… And it’d be even more generic than that because, in Italian, there is no “it”…

Please, don’t raise general issues about the use of the Italian reflexive tense… Just keep in mind that, in this case, it indicates that the person speaking is personally involved… that he cares about Giuseppe…

“Sempre in gamba!” is an exhortation. ‘Sempre’ here does not mean just ‘always,’ but it captures the meaning of ‘keep’… Like saying, “Hey, now and tomorrow like you have ever been before…”. 

‘In gamba’… well, let’s just say that if you are doing something and I tell you, “Wow, you are good!”, it means that you are ‘In gamba’.

Here’s waiting for the natives…


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## Murphy

Hi Blackeagle,
Despite all your helpful explanations as to the meaning of this expression, it would still help if you could place it in context.  Does it form part of a dialogue, and if so, could you post a little bit more of it?  As I'm sure you know, possible suggestions could depend on what comes before and after the expression in question.


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## BlackEagle

Context:
 
Giuseppe goes to his office in the morning. People know that he is troubled with something those very days. A friendly colleague of his crosses him in the hall and says the relevant sentence while passing by… without even stopping. It’s a passing-by line…


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## lingogal

How about: Hey, Joe, hang in there!


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## pescara

Another possibility: Hey Joe, keep the faith.  

Ciao.


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## You little ripper!

*Keep your chin up mate!*


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## BlackEagle

Thanks very much for these suggestions. I'm attending a conference these days, and I cannot focus much on this... but I'll think it through and get back to you soon. Thanks again!


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## BlackEagle

Ok... This is what I'm going to write,

"Hang in there, Giuseppe: keep up the good work!"

Thanks, Lingogal!


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## Azazel81

Io direi: "keep up" o "keep the chin up". Sono quelle più usate e più vicine al senso.

"Hang in there" forse è più usata quando si parla con una persona che versa in una situazione moooolto dura (di solito). Comunque magari fa al caso... ;-)


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## Enigmista

_Hey, Joe, *on the ball* !! _ 				?? Ho trovato il significato "in gamba" in vari dizionari

Does it work in such situation ??


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## Tunalagatta

Enigmista said:


> _Hey, Joe, *on the ball* !! _                 ?? Ho trovato il significato "in gamba" in vari dizionari
> 
> Does it work in such situation ??



Ciao Enig 

I think it would be fine. The "Mi raccomando" part would be implicit.


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## Enigmista

Tunalagatta said:


> Ciao Enig
> 
> I think it would be fine. The "Mi raccomando" part would be implicit.



Grazie Tuna...volevo avere conferma perchè avevo intenzione di dirlo ad un amico inglese e pensavo di fare una gaffe perchè non l'avrebbe capita


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## Tunalagatta

Actually, reading back through the thread, I think I might have made a terrible error. Why exactly do you want to say this to your friend? Is he having some kind of trouble? Perhaps "On the ball" is wrong here. It would be more if your friend is managing to do something and you are encouraging him. Sorry for the misleading response.


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## Enigmista

Ok Tuna  No problem at all ! It just depends...  In Italia diciamo "in gamba" come incoraggiamento/augurio rivolto ad un amico o conoscente.

Non si sa sempre se la persona sta passando un brutto periodo o ha dei problemi o difficoltà *reali*...lo si può dire a prescindere. Magari la persona in questione non ha nessun problema e nessuna prova da superare
Puoi vederla come anche una sorta di pacca sulla spalla e basta


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## Tunalagatta

Well in that case, as a general "pat on the back"-type term of encouragement, "on the ball" could certainly work .


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## Peninsular

I'm not sure it's possible to translate that directly without rendering it very stagey-sounding: even actually using the name of a close friend to them, unless you're calling their attention or it's going to be a long time before you see them again, sounds (to me, from the UK, at least!) a bit incongruous. The nearest thing I can think of would be something like "Take it easy" - the sense of "On the ball" might be right, but I can't imagine ever hearing it said.


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## Enigmista

Grazie Peninsular...So you think it's not a natural or everyday expression , don't you ?

I'd like to know what our american friends think about it


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## Peninsular

Hi Enigmista - it's not the expression, which is correct; it's just that it sounds odd (to my ears!) because it's not typical of the way I'm used to hearing an throwaway endearment expressed in British English... Maybe "look after yourself" if they were parting? 
Where I come from it would probably just be "Alright, (_surname_)!"


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## Enigmista

I don't think it is close in meaning to "look after yourself" ...we need other natives point of view I think

I always thought it was short for : _Hey XYZ, (be) on the ball..._!


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## Peninsular

You're right, it's not close in meaning - what I meant was that in my experience there is often a cultural difference between the way this type of thing is expressed in Italian and in English: an Italian friend might say "ti sta benissimo, stai una favola!" about a new shirt, I would be surprised to hear anyone from the UK (apart, maybe, from my mum) say "it really suits you, you look great" - it sounds too earnest, and you'd probably get "Yeah, it looks alright!"


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## london calling

"On the ball!" sounds very AE to me, but I think it works here.  As Pen says, an equivalent in BE is a little difficult to find (stiff upper lip an' all that!).


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## Enigmista

london calling said:


> "On the ball!" sounds very AE to me, but I think it works here.  As Pen says, an equivalent in BE is a little difficult to find (stiff upper lip an' all that!).



Lo secondo te funzionerebbe per esprimere il nostro italiano "in gamba ?? (nel senso che ho descritto io)

In UK verrebbe capito ??


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## london calling

Tranquillo, Enig. On the ball! come esclamazione mi suona molto americano, ma se mio padre ottantenne dice "He's very on the ball" per dire che qualcuno è in gamba....


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## Enigmista

london calling said:


> Tranquillo, Enig. On the ball! come esclamazione mi suona molto americano, ma se mio padre ottantenne dice "He's very on the ball" per dire che qualcuno è in gamba....



Ho capito Lo...non traduce affatto il senso che intendevo io allora..ma tutt'altra situazione


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## You little ripper!

I'm still not very sure of how 'in gamba' is used in Italian (besides the meaning of _being very good at something_) but I would never use 'on the ball' as a parting comment, no matter what the circumstances - it sounds very odd to me. I've never heard Americans use it that way either, Jo. Someone from there may be able to confirm one way or the other.


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## gandolfo

Hi Chas
It's a funny phrase to translate isn't it? It has so many possible meanings, depending on context and speaker's intention. I always think that a person who is "in gamba" essentially has their feet on the ground, is grounded,smart and, therefore, behaves like that.


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## You little ripper!

gandolfo said:


> Hi Chas
> It's a funny phrase to translate isn't it? It has so many possible meanings, depending on context and speaker's intention. I always think that a person who is "in gamba" essentially has their feet on the ground, is grounded,smart and, therefore, behaves like that.


I'd forgotten  that it also has that meaning. It's how my parents always used it. _Elena è molto in gamba!_


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## Tellure

Io dico "sempre in gamba" e non mi è mai capitato di sentire "stai in gamba!", ma tant'è...  Il significato, in ogni caso, è più o meno lo stesso.   Ho trovato questo: stai in gamba! keep well!/take care!  http://dizionari.repubblica.it/Italiano-Inglese/G/gamba.php  Un mio amico si trasferisce in un'altra città e vorrei dirgli anch'io: "In bocca al lupo per tutto e, mi raccomando, sempre in gamba!". "Take care" è troppo "abusato" e volevo un'espressione più originale, se così si può dire. Com'è "Keep well"? I suggerimenti fin qui proposti non mi sembra si adattino, sinceramente. Non so...


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## rrose17

Ciao, is this friend A/E or B/E? I agree that "take care" or "keep well" are not great, aren't they more like "Stammi bene"? But to be honest I think any exhortation close to the Italian one is going to sound Italian. I think for this instance that's actually kind of nice to hear.  But if I were writing to a close friend I probably would say "Good luck with everything, you're going to be fine/do great! (even if this is not perfect grammatically)"


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## Tellure

rrose17 said:


> Ciao, is this friend A/E or B/E? I agree that "take care" or "keep well" are not great, aren't they more like "Stammi bene"? But to be honest I think any exhortation close to the Italian one is going to sound Italian. I think for this instance that's actually kind of nice to hear.  But if I were writing to a close friend I probably would say "Good luck with everything, you're going to be fine/do great! (even if this is not perfect grammatically)"



Ciao rrose!  Lui è B/E, e hai ragione, "take care" e "keep well" corrispondono più a "Stammi bene". 
Alla fine, credo che gli scriverò come mi suggerisci! Grazie mille!


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