# (mi) è rimasto il colpo in canna



## fcabitza

Hello everybody, 
   how would you translate the expression "mi/ti/gli..." "è rimasto il colpo in canna". 

It is typically said when one was about (or just had the opportunity) to do something (e.g., make a witty remark, take an opportunity, reply to a sarcastic comment, etc.) but actually s/he didn't, missed the opportunity. 

In this expression it is clear the reference to "loading a rifle" (avere il colpo in canna) and then missing the timing for shooting (maybe while hunting, at first).

I'd like to use it in this expression:
"M'è rimasto il colpo in canna e non ho spedito il messaggio." 

Thank you to anyone could help.


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## pescara

Direi: I missed my chance/opportunity.

Ciao.


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## fcabitza

Thank you Pescara for breaking the ice. Is there anything more... "idiomatic" or just closer to the 'hunting' metaphor? (just do not consider too much my particular need, I would have bet that a similar expression also exists in English).


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## King Crimson

Forse anche questo thread può aiutare...


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## fcabitza

King Crimson said:


> Forse anche questo thread può aiutare...



It helps. Yet, as far as I know, "avere un colpo in canna" (e non sparare, metaforicamente) is different than "perdere il treno" or "l'occasione". 

It is more something like "having all set (just think of how complex it was to load a rifle in ancient times) and then not even to shoot, leave alone hitting the target!"


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## Blackman

fcabitza said:


> It helps. Yet, as far as I know, "avere un colpo in canna" (e non sparare, metaforicamente) is different than "perdere il treno" or "l'occasione".
> 
> It is more something like "having all set (just think of how complex it was to load a rifle in ancient times) and then not even to shoot, leave alone hitting the target!"


 
Concordo. E' più simile a _mi è rimasto il boccone in gola_ o _mi è rimasto sui denti._


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## rrose17

Well keeping with the gun metaphor we do say to be _slow on the draw_. In the old west two gunmen would meet on Main Street in a duel and the fastest "draw" the first one to draw his gun out his holster and shoot would win. So if you're slow on the draw you miss your chance.


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## london calling

rrose17 said:


> Well keeping with the gun metaphor we do say to be _slow on the draw_. In the old west two gunmen would meet on Main Street in a duel and the fastest "draw" the first one to draw his gun out his holster and shoot would win. So if you're slow on the draw you miss your chance.


And that is exactly what I thought when I read the title of the thread!


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## fcabitza

Thank you for both the previous contributions. 

Yet, "rimanere con il colpo in canna" is closer to "misfiring" than to "firing after another one" or "firing late". Just a subtle distinction, I know, but I think it could be appreciated here.


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## underhouse

As for  your example, perhaps you could translate as:

_I wasn't quick on my feet and I didn't send the message._


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## CPA

_Slow off the mark?_


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## crastest

rrose17 said:


> Well keeping with the gun metaphor we do say to be _slow on the draw_. In the old west two gunmen would meet on Main Street in a duel and the fastest "draw" the first one to draw his gun out his holster and shoot would win. So if you're slow on the draw you miss your chance.



I re-open this thread cause I think it's not really the correct translation. If someone is "con il colpo in canna" they haven't missed the chance, they can still process the action, but they are put on hold by the circumstances as they are waiting on something.
Context : Mi passi le tue informazioni che sono rimasto con il colpo in canna (in reference to a research/work)? Meaning that I'm waiting for just few information to finish my task/job and that I will finish it later as soon as they give me the information I require.

Is there any idiomatic phrase for that?


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## chipulukusu

Talking about idioms, I think _rimanere con il colpo in canna_ which is the O.P. may have too many different meanings in Italian for being translated with a single English idiom.

For example, I could _rimanere con il colpo in canna_ because I was paralysed by sudden terror. In this case I could use the idiom "_to get cold feet_". Classical example:

_Please, go and talk to Pete. He's got cold feet and he doesn't want to go to church and marry Ann!_

But this is one of the many possible use of _rimanere con il colpo in canna_, in my opinion, and probably not even the more common.


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## fcabitza

crastest said:


> I re-open this thread cause I think it's not really the correct translation. [...].
> 
> Is there any idiomatic phrase for that?



I agree. In my opinion, the best try so far is what I proposed, i.e.,  "to misfire". However, this is somehow too literal, I guess...


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## crastest

Thanks for your replies, although I don't think they address the correct meaning of "rimanere con il colpo in canna".

"rimanere con il colpo in canna", although you can replace it in few circumstance with "_get cold feet",_  it's not necessarily related to  fear, but it can be amazement or any  other thing that blocks you and in all cases it doesn't NECESSARILY mean  you have missed forever the chance to accomplish your task like in the  idiom "_slow on the draw"_. There's a slight difference.

Misfire  also means you have missed or mistaken something, whereas "rimanere con  il colpo in canna" means (at least in my example) you are all set and ready and you are just  waiting some small tiny little thing (it can be whatever) to finally  fire off (if you ever will be able to fire off depending on the odds).

I'm getting eager to get to know fi there's an english idiom similar to it .
Cheers.


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## fcabitza

crastest said:


> Thanks for your replies, although I don't think they address the correct meaning of "rimanere con il colpo in canna".[...]
> 
> Misfire  also means you have missed or mistaken something, whereas "rimanere con  il colpo in canna" [...]



Not really. 
From the Oxford Dictionary, the first meaning reported therein is

(of a gun or missile) fail to discharge or fire properly:_as she raised her pistol again, it misfired_(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/misfire)

Thus, we are not so far from the easiest way to interpret "rimanare con il colpo in canna" (which I would stick to, not to make things overcomplicted). However, I recognize this term could be too literal and that native speakers could not use such a term in the same context we would use the Italian phrase at hand.
Cheers


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## crastest

fcabitza said:


> Not really.
> _misfired_
> I recognize this term could be too literal
> Cheers



definitely misfire is the literal translation. What I would like to know is the figurative translation of "rimanere con il colpo in canna", if there is any idiomatic form in English.

Cheers


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## ginestre

Sorry, chaps: _misfire_ is absolutely not the same as _rimanere con il colpo in canna_. When you have your _colpo in canna_, then your English gun is _primed_. But the addition of the verb _rimanere _con adds a sense of incompiutezza that is completely missing in primed: so I can't think of any appropriate collocations using it. 


I didn't shoot my load ? This has a specifically sexual reference, rather than hunting, but at least it uses a gun-related verb...


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## Blackman

Sono d'accordo su tutta la linea. Per ciò che mi riguarda, anche in italiano it has the same specifically sexual reference. A meno che non si tratti di contesti storici precisi legati all'uso delle armi (moschetti per esempio, nei quali il colpo veniva caricato nella canna e lì rimaneva se faceva cilecca, da cui l'espressione). Nelle armi moderne però l'espressione è riferita solo a _colpo in canna_ (_avere il_, _tenere un_ ma non me ne sovviene alcuna con _rimanere _e in quel caso si parla comunque di arma inceppata o altro).

_Mi è rimasto il colpo in canna_, I'm afraid, ha un solo significato: ero convinto che avrei combinato qualcosa con una ragazza, ma così non è stato. _I didn't shoot my load_ is exactly it. Questo non esclude che possa essere usato in contesti non sessuali, ma comunque sempre in una situazione dove non si è riuscito a fare qualcosa che si era programmato.



ginestre said:


> Sorry, chaps: _misfire_ is absolutely not the same as _rimanere con il colpo in canna_. When you have your _colpo in canna_, then your English gun is _primed_. But the addition of the verb _rimanere _con adds a sense of incompiutezza that is completely missing in primed: so I can't think of any appropriate collocations using it.
> 
> 
> I didn't shoot my load ? This has a specifically sexual reference, rather than hunting, but at least it uses a gun-related verb...


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## crastest

ginestre said:


> I didn't shoot my load ?



It can be used in the same situation, but "rimanere con il colpo in canna" isn't necessarily sexually related



Blackman said:


> _Mi è rimasto il colpo in canna_, I'm afraid, ha un solo significato: ero convinto che avrei combinato qualcosa con una ragazza, ma così non è stato. _I didn't shoot my load_  is exactly it. Questo non esclude che possa essere usato in contesti  non sessuali, ma comunque sempre in una situazione dove non si è  riuscito a fare qualcosa che si era programmato.



Assolutamente no!
Il tuo esempio non è necessariamente rivolto all'atto sessuale di espellere sperma come invece è shoot someone's load.
Shoot someone's load non implica necessariamente  il didn't davanti ed è un'espressione (volgare) dell'atto sessuale. Rimanere/Avere il colpo  in canna non è necessariamente sessuale, anzi direi quasi mai e solo in  un contesto amichevole scherzoso. Rimanere con il colpo in canna è  qualcosa che si può leggere sui giornali/news/televisione, mentre "Shoot  someone's load" sarebbe appunto troppo volgare.


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## Blackman

crastest said:


> Assolutamente no!
> Il tuo esempio non è necessariamente rivolto all'atto sessuale di espellere sperma come invece è shoot someone's load.
> Shoot someone's load non implica necessariamente  il didn't davanti ed è un'espressione (volgare) dell'atto sessuale. Rimanere/Avere il colpo  in canna non è necessariamente sessuale, anzi direi quasi mai e solo in  un contesto amichevole scherzoso. Rimanere con il colpo in canna è  qualcosa che si può leggere sui giornali/news/televisione, mentre "Shoot  someone's load" sarebbe appunto troppo volgare.



Se leggi bene io non ho escluso l'uso in contesti non sessuali, come è appunto l'esempio col quale hai riaperto il thread. Non condivido l'uso che ne fai in italiano, ma è argomento da forum Solo-italiano, qui discutiamo come tradurre l'espressione. Se l'espressione _gli è rimasto il colpo in canna (figurata _in italiano_)_ è usata in contesti sessuali (che in italiano comunque non avrebbe bisogno di ), a mio avviso, la traduzione migliore è _he didn't shoot his load_ (che i nativi ritengono debba invece essere segnalata da ). Se invece l'espressione da tradurre _gli è rimasto un colpo in canna (letterale _in italiano) è usata in contesti storico-militari, sempre a mio avviso, la traduzione migliore potrebbe essere _his firearm misfired. _Per il tuo esempio, che definirei figurato in contesto non sessuale e non storico-militare, mi affido anche io ai nativi.


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## ginestre

shoot your load  is certainly a vulgar expression for male ejaculation: but I have heard it used in a specific military context - an operational debriefing - in which a non-sexual action was described in sexual terms. (In that conversation, everything was described in similar terms). However, when I turned to my friend google for evidence of this usage in written form, I was very surprised to find that google does not back me up on this at all. I don't know whether this means the conversation I heard was simply an imaginative turn of phrase from a roughneck, or whether usage is evolving and has yet to be written down.


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## PatsRule

fcabitza said:


> Hello everybody,
> how would you translate the expression "mi/ti/gli..." "è rimasto il colpo in canna".
> 
> It is typically said when one was about (or just had the opportunity) to do something (e.g., make a witty remark, take an opportunity, reply to a sarcastic comment, etc.) but actually s/he didn't, missed the opportunity.
> 
> In this expression it is clear the reference to "loading a rifle" (avere il colpo in canna) and then missing the timing for shooting (maybe while hunting, at first).
> 
> I'd like to use it in this expression:
> "M'è rimasto il colpo in canna e non ho spedito il messaggio."
> 
> Thank you to anyone could help.



"I missed my shot" or "I missed my shot at..."


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## PatsRule

crastest said:


> I re-open this thread cause I think it's not really the correct translation. If someone is "con il colpo in canna" they haven't missed the chance, they can still process the action, but they are put on hold by the circumstances as they are waiting on something.
> Context : Mi passi le tue informazioni che sono rimasto con il colpo in canna (in reference to a research/work)? Meaning that I'm waiting for just few information to finish my task/job and that I will finish it later as soon as they give me the information I require.
> 
> Is there any idiomatic phrase for that?



"Waiting to fire off"
or
"Have my hand on the trigger (waiting to do something)" - even though it's the finger on the trigger, I've heard it most times used with hand.


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## Teerex51

_"...I'm (still) locked and loaded, and waiting for..."_


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## PatsRule

Teerex51 said:


> _"...I'm (still) locked and loaded, and waiting for..."_



I saw this on the Wordreference site, but I, personally, have never heard this before.  It may be a BrE saying.
I'm wondering if there are Americans who can join in to say if they've ever heard it before (maybe in the South?!)


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## crastest

PatsRule said:


> "Have my hand on the trigger (waiting to do  something)" - even though it's the finger on the trigger, I've heard it  most times used with hand.



I think this is spot on!



PatsRule said:


> "Waiting to fire off"





Teerex51 said:


> _"...I'm (still) locked and loaded, and waiting for..."_


I very much like and will use these other 2 definitions also. Last one maybe only in the south of the US .

Thanks everyone, that's why I love this forum.


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## joanvillafane

Locked and loaded - I'm surprised you haven't heard this, PatsRule.  I confirm that it's definitely AE.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lock_and_load


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## Teerex51

crastest said:


> Last one maybe only in the south of the US .


Why would you say that? Just because of an ill-informed comment?  My American business partner who uses this expression a lot is a Minnesotan who lives in Rhode Island—and that's quite a ways north of the Mason-Dixon line. 

A word of advice to make this great forum even more enjoyable for you. 
When someone says "I have never heard this before", take that literally. Ultimately, you really don't know what they do for a living, how many books a year they read and how many literate people they talk to.


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## crastest

Teerex51 said:


> Why would you say that?



I have added your idiom (didn't add others) saying "I very much like and will use these other 2 definitions also." and was waiting for someone to reply cause I'm not mothertongue but I knew already it was an american said and had already saw that link plus others, that's why I said "maybe" (also cause one thing is seeing a phrase on the internet and another thing is a mothertongue saying I've never heard that, if you see what I mean).
Come on don't be too touchy , it wasn't against you.
Thanks again though, well seen.


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## PatsRule

crastest said:


> Come on don't be too touchy , it wasn't against you.



I agree.  
This site should not be a race to see who the OP "picks".  It is a site where people from all over can share their way of "saying things".
Both English and Italian vary from area to area.  I've met people from Sicily who have sayings that people in Milan have never heard before.
It has absolutely nothing to do with their education or their literacy levels.  
Same goes for English speaking people from various countries, or, yes even cities within North America.
That is why it is wonderful to have people from all over.  
Embrace it.


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## Odysseus54

From what I understand, though, '_rimanere_ con il colpo in canna' means that an attempt to do something has been frustrated by the circumstances.

Whereas 'to be locked and loaded' means to be ready to do whatever needs to be done.  And I am not sure that the 'still' would do the job of adding the meaning of having failed doing what one had in mind to do.


As to the frequency of these expressions, Pat, I have , if not heard this expression often, at least read it many times.  Often as 'locked and loaded and ready to go'.

Much more often than 'rimanere con il colpo in canna' - I am Italian, although I've been gone for a while, and I can't say that I recognize it as an idiom.  A transparent metaphor perhaps, not an idiom.


Having said which, I personally like Pat's 'I missed my shot at..' the best so far.


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