# You're bitchin'



## Wonder_Donnie

Hello there, I was watching Donnie Darko in english while I encountered this dialogue: (Donnie has just called his mother bitch)
Mom: Our son just called me a bitch
Dad: You're not a bitch. You're* bitchen* but you're not a bitch.

Which should mean: Non sei una pu...na. Sei _bitchen _ma non una pu...na.

I took a look on Google and it translates it as: amazing; fantabulous. I wonder if it is correct. I couldn't find it on Wordrefence dictionary.


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## miri

Forse "you're bitchen" sta per "*you're bitching*"

Poi direi !"stronza"!, piuttosto che !"puttana"!

"Stai rompendo il ..., ma non sei una !stronza!"


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## brian

Great scene. 

And yes, _bitch*i*n'_ (I would spell it with an _i_ because it's short for _bitch*i*ng_), means excellent, awesome, incredible, fantastic, really cool, etc. For example, "Man, that new car of yours is bitchin'!" The word is definitely restricted to certain social/age groups (young crowds, I'd say). I myself do not ever use it, but I of course recognize it and know its meaning. Some of my friends use it.

As for a translation, how about:

Mom: _Tuo figlio mi ha appena chiamato una  figa!_
Dad: _Non sei una figa. Sei figa, ma non sei una figa._

Something like that?


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## miri

If it meant "fantastic", the following "but" wouldn't make much sense, Brian...

You're fantastic, not a bitch sounds good  
You're fantastic *but* not a bitch   mhhhhh...


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## Wonder_Donnie

Hai ragione, la traduzione in Italiano di _bitch _è stronza anche nel film.
Quindi questo bitchen/bitching è una cosa appartenente solo al parlato ed è per questo che non si trova sul dizionario? 
Però è un ottimo gioco di parole 
Grazie ad entrambi.


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## miri

Viene da verbo "to bitch", Daniele. E' il gerundio: bitch+ing

Forse si potrebbe lasciare il gioco di parole dicendo: "Stai facendo la stronza, ma non sei una stronza"


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## neuromatico

Great movie. 

But in this context, bitchin' means complaining:
"He's always bitchin' about how much he hates his job."


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## brian

miri said:


> If it meant "fantastic", the following "but" wouldn't make much sense, Brian...



It makes sense in English because of the play on _bitch/bitchin'_.



			
				miri said:
			
		

> You're fantastic, not a bitch sounds good
> You're fantastic *but* not a bitch   mhhhhh...



The second one doesn't work because you use _fantastic_, so the play on words is lost.



miri said:


> Viene da verbo "to bitch", Daniele. E' il gerundio: bitch+ing



No, _bitchin'_ is an adjective that does not have a corresponding verb, except only etymologically/theoretically. Kind of like _willing_ ("willing to do something") since the verb _to will_ is rarely used nowadays (and in fact has a slightly different meaning anyway), yet _willing_ is very normal and frequent.

Similarly, _to bitch_ does exist but has a completely different meaning, as shown by neuromatico above. Neuro's example uses the verb, so in fact it's actually a completely different word, in my opinion. 



			
				miri said:
			
		

> Forse si potrebbe lasciare il gioco di parole dicendo: "Stai facendo la stronza, ma non sei una stronza"



No, questo non funziona, secondo me. _Fare la stronza_ non è una cosa positiva, vero?


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## Wonder_Donnie

Ok ho capito ora, riguardando quel pezzo in Italiano dice: Non sei una stronza. A volte stronzeggi ma non sei stronza.

Quello stronzeggi è appunto bitching.

Ma non ho capito perché bitchen che sarebbe un aggettivo può diventare gerundio e quindi bitching.


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## miri

Right, Neuro, that's why I translated it as "stai rompendo il c..." (because you're complaining)" in my first post, but now I was trying to find an equivalent pun in Italian.

Ah davvero, Daniele!!! E' tradotto così in italiano! Allora l'ho azzeccata!


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## brian

Scusa ma _stronzeaggiare_ è sinonimo di _cazzeggiare_?

Miri, _bitchin'_ here is the adjective, not the verb. It does not mean "complaining."


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## Wonder_Donnie

brian8733 said:


> Scusa ma _stronzeaggiare_ è sinonimo di _cazzeggiare_?
> 
> Miri, _bitchin'_ here is the adjective, not the verb. It does not mean "complaining."


Sì, si potrebbe dire che sono sinonimi, entrambi indicano l'azione del "non far nulla", passare il tempo in ozio.


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## brian

Allora non va, secondo me.

Dovete distinguere tra due parole completamente diverse:

_to bitch _(verbo) = _lamentarsi
bitching _(aggettivo) = _figo, fantastico_

Allora _bitching _(= _bitchin'_) *non è* il gerundio del verbo _to bitch_.

Ma non vi piace la mia traduzione?

Mom: _Tuo figlio mi ha appena chiamato una figa!_
Dad: _Non sei una figa. Sei figa, ma non sei una figa._


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## miri

Brian, scusa, ma io credo che sia usato come sinonimo di bitching (verbo).
E l'intento è quello di prenderla in giro, non di farle un complimento. 
"Stai rompendo le palle, perchè sei lamentosa, ma non sei una stronza"
O forse l'ambiguità tra bitchen e bitching è voluta, visto che la pronuncia è la stessa.


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## brian

Decisamente no, miri. Sorry.  Hai visto il film?


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## neuromatico

I must admit that I haven't seen the film for years, but I seem to recall that the father means the mother's complaining (about Donnie) doesn't make her a bitch.


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## brian

Oh I completely disagree!

He means _bitchin'_ as in cool, awesome, etc. It would make no sense to me (in the movie) to mean complaining.


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## miri

No, purtroppo non l'ho visto, Brian!
Ma Neuro, sembra di parere diverso dal tuo. Per ora lascio la palla a voi. Devo andare!


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## brian

I own the movie and have seen it no less than 15-20 times. 

Not that that makes me an expert or my opinion any more valid than anyone's elses, but I can assure you that in my mind it absolutely means "cool" here. 

I also just asked 3 friends, and they agree, for what it's worth.

Then again, Donnie Darko is a really screwed up movie that allows for 100s of interpretations. All the lines were written with that in mind, so it doesn't surprise me that some people interpret this line differently.


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## Alxmrphi

brian8733 said:


> Oh I completely disagree!
> 
> He means _bitchin'_ as in cool, awesome, etc. It would make no sense to me (in the movie) to mean complaining.



I think I've watched it about 16 times (really)... I do agree, it's not about complaining.


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## Wonder_Donnie

I think the husband wants to make a compliment to his wife saying she is bitchen instead a !!bitch. 
Unfortunatly I could not find any video about that piece of the film on internet. I'd want to acquire it from my dvd but I don't know how to do.


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## Alxmrphi

It's fine Daniele, everyone's seen the film and understands that what you're saying is correct, you've understood it perfectly


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## neuromatico

brian8733 said:


> I own the movie and have seen it no less than 15-20 times.


In my view, that makes you an expert.  (I saw it only once, when it came out.)

The take home point is that bitchin' has two very different meanings: 
as a verb: complain
as an adjective: fantastic


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## miri

I've just finished watching the scene we're talking about.
*You're definitely right, Brian! * The husband looks loving and wants to comfort his wife by paying her a compliment. She's smiling and looks happy about that.
*I stand corrected!!!!!!*

PS: Daniele, se vuoi vedere la scena, vai su youtube: Donnie Darko part 1


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## Wonder_Donnie

I've been looking for the scene for hours and there is the whole film on Youtube, damn it! 

Thank you for the help!


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## effeundici

C'è un problema Brian, che essere chiamate _fighe; _pur se magari un po' eccessivo non è un offesa; anzi direi che comunque è un complimento.




brian8733 said:


> Allora non va, secondo me.
> 
> Dovete distinguere tra due parole completamente diverse:
> 
> _to bitch _(verbo) = _lamentarsi_
> _bitching _(aggettivo) = _figo, fantastico_
> 
> Allora _bitching _(= _bitchin'_) *non è* il gerundio del verbo _to bitch_.
> 
> Ma non vi piace la mia traduzione?
> 
> Mom: _Tuo figlio mi ha appena chiamato una figa!_
> Dad: _Non sei una figa. Sei figa, ma non sei una figa._


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## miri

Forse il suggerimento di Brian si potrebbe modificare in questo modo:
"Sei figa, non una/altro che figa di merda". 
"Figa di merda" is very similar to "stronza", but I'm afraid it's more vulgar ...


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## lingogal

I, too, agree with Brian's interpretation. Bitchin'  is an adjective meaning cool, fantastic, great. I even remember getting in trouble at school, because a teacher heard me use the word and thought that I was swearing! When I tried to explain my wonderful slang, it got me sent to detention for lying! So the confusion is understandable. But in this film, I would say that it is definitely the adjective. "You're cool, mom, you're not a bitch!"


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## miri

Poor lingogal, sent to detention!!!!!

PS: lingo, it was the son who'd called his mother "bitch"


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## london calling

lingogal said:


> Bitchin' is an adjective meaning cool, fantastic, great. .


Good to know! If somebody had said that to me I'd have clouted them round the head!
Difficile mantenere il gioco di parole in italiano....mi sa che il suggerimento di miri è quello che si avvicina di più. Oppure, si deve cambiare completamente:

_Sei quello che sei , non quello che sembri._

Che ne pensate, nativi?


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## lingogal

miri said:


> Poor lingogal, sent to detention!!!!!
> 
> PS: lingo, it was the son who'd called his mother "bitch"



Whoops! That should read "you're cool, honey", not "you're cool, mom!"...slip of the fingers!

Thanks, Miri, for pointing it out.


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