# Deal breaker



## V52

Hi,
can anyone give me a translation for
 " Deal breaker " ?
Grazie
Vittorio


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## You little ripper!

A _deal breaker_ is _any factor that is significant enough to terminate a negotiation_. It's a term that is used in business or politics.


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## V52

Cara Vic
Il contesto è un'intervista sulle caratteristiche che determinano un interesse sessuale.
Charles gave the solution ,  and it is  in Italian  "punto chiave" , " elemento determinante" 
Ciao
Vittorio


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## ElaineG

N.B.:  A "deal breaker" è sempre un "punto chiave" in senso negativo.  Non so se c'è qualcosa che esprime questo senso in italiano:

E.g., "I thought he was really cute, but I found out he smokes 2 packs a day; that's a deal breaker for me."

"On our second date, he told me that he likes dressing up in his mom's clothing -- that was a definite deal breaker!"


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## You little ripper!

Sarebbe qualcosa _che ammazza un accordo o un'affare._ _Un ammazza accordo/affare???_ That probably doesn't make sense but it may give you the idea.


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## Raphillon

"Ragione per rompere"?
"Punto di rottura"?
"Causa di rottura"

The following are suitable only speaking of business:
"Causa di recesso"
"Causa di rescissione (di un contratto)"


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## You little ripper!

_Ragione per rompere/causa di rottura_ sound O.K. to me. Si può _rompere un accordo?_


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## Raphillon

Charles Costante said:
			
		

> _Ragione per rompere/causa di rottura_ sound O.K. to me. Si può _rompere un accordo?_


 
Si, "Rompere un accordo" is very common. Così come "rompere una trattativa"


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## You little ripper!

Raphillon said:
			
		

> Si, "Rompere un accordo" is very common. Così come "rompere una trattativa"


Thanks Andrea. Can you use the word _ammazzare _figuratively as I did earlier?


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## Raphillon

Charles Costante said:
			
		

> Thanks Andrea. Can you use the word _ammazza _figuratively or does it only mean _to take away a life_?


 
Si può usare metaforicamente, solo non l'ho mai sentito usare in questo caso....

Però potresti benissimo dire "E' un ammazza-accordi", qualunque Italiano capirebbe benissimo.

Penso che starebbe bene utilizzato per qualcosa di molto definitivo, tipo:

"La malafede è un ammazza accordi"

Qualcosa, cioè, capace di distruggere qualunque accordo, non solo quello di cui ci si occupa adesso, perchè è un espressione molto forte: quando qualcosa ammazza un accordo l'accordo è morto, distrutto e nulla può farlo rinascere....

Spero di essermi fatto capire


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## Raphillon

Tra l'altro credo che starebbe meglio utilizzando il verbo invece che l'aggettivo:

"La malafede ammazza (o uccide) gli accordi"

è talmente logico che sembra un proverbio....


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## You little ripper!

Raphillon said:
			
		

> Si può usare metaforicamente, solo non l'ho mai sentito usare in questo caso....
> 
> Però potresti benissimo dire "E' un ammazza-accordi", qualunque Italiano capirebbe benissimo.
> 
> Penso che starebbe bene utilizzato per qualcosa di molto definitivo, tipo:
> 
> "La malafede è un ammazza accordi"
> 
> Qualcosa, cioè, capace di distruggere qualunque accordo, non solo quello di cui ci si occupa adesso, perchè è un espressione molto forte: quando qualcosa ammazza un accordo l'accordo è morto, distrutto e nulla può farlo rinascere....
> 
> Spero di essermi fatto capire


Thanks Andrea. I understood you perfectly.


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## Elisa68

ElaineG said:
			
		

> E.g., "I thought he was really cute, but I found out he smokes 2 packs a day; that's a deal breaker for me."
> 
> "On our second date, he told me that he likes dressing up in his mom's clothing -- that was a definite deal breaker!"


Negli esempi di Elaine mi sembra che si possa tradurre anche come:
_Situazione inaccettabile._


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## lsp

ElaineG said:
			
		

> N.B.:  A "deal breaker" è sempre un "punto chiave" in senso negativo.  Non so se c'è qualcosa che esprime questo senso in italiano:
> 
> E.g., "I thought he was really cute, but I found out he smokes 2 packs a day; that's a deal breaker for me."
> 
> "On our second date, he told me that he likes dressing up in his mom's clothing -- that was a definite deal breaker!"





			
				Elisa68 said:
			
		

> Negli esempi di Elaine mi sembra che si possa tradurre anche come:
> Situazione inaccettabile.


{Gasp!} I disagree. Maybe. "We asked them to throw in 10 free hours of training. That's a deal breaker for signing the contract." It's something we want, the _absence_ of it is the negative that breaks the deal.


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## ElaineG

Sorry for the English, but I'm sleepy. Any translation of "deal breaker" should take into account that it is used for dating and relationships in current speech (the business context is, if anything, a minority use at this point!).

I'm not sure if "ragione per rompere un accordo" would be used colloquially in this sense or not? Elisa's "situazione inaccettabile" captures the personal context, but maybe not the sense that you've weighed up the factors and the "deal breaker" is the one you can't stomach.

Maybe Italian doesn't have a good idiom for these cases, but I'll give some more examples. I'm not feeling creative so I've cadged from Google:



> You're on your first date when you notice he's had four glasses of wine before the entrée arrives. Deal breaker?
> • You've been dating someone special and upon entering his apartment for the first time you notice a book called _The Idiot's Guide to Sex_. Deal breaker?
> • Your long-term boyfriend proposes and presents you with a stunning ring in a Tiffany's box-and later you find out it's a cubic zirconium. Deal breaker?
> • You meet a cute guy at a bar, but the only number he'll give you is his pager. Deal breaker?


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## Raphillon

ElaineG said:
			
		

> Sorry for the English, but I'm sleepy. Any translation of "deal breaker" should take into account that it is used for dating and relationships in current speech (the business context is, if anything, a minority use at this point!).
> 
> I'm not sure if "ragione per rompere" would be used colloquially in this sense or not? Elisa's "situazione inaccettabile" captures the personal context, but maybe not the sense that you've weighed up the factors and the "deal breaker" is the one you can't stomach.
> 
> Maybe Italian doesn't have a good idiom for these cases, but I'll give some more examples. I'm not feeling creative so I've cadged from Google:


Nei due esempi tradurrei "quanto basta per tagliare"

I thought he was really cute, but I found out he smokes 2 packs a day; that's a deal breaker for me.
Pensavo fosse davvero carino, ma ho scoperto che fuma 2 pacchetti al giorno; per me questo è quanto basta per tagliare

On our second date, he told me that he likes dressing up in his mom's clothing -- that was a definite deal breaker!
Al nostro secondo appuntamento mi ha detto che gli piace vestirsi con gli abiti di sua madre -- E' stato quanto basta per tagliare

Negli esempi di Elaine si può usare: "basta per tagliare?"


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## You little ripper!

lsp said:
			
		

> {Again?! eek} It's alive and well in my office, and with my vendors... I never use it _outside_ of business.


I also have not heard it outside a business context, although it seems to be from the context Vittorio gave.


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## ElaineG

lsp said:
			
		

> {Again?! eek} It's alive and well in my office, and with my vendors... I never use it _outside_ of business.


 
Didn't mean to suggest that it wasn't alive and well in business -- just that its use in dating and relationships (as is apparently the context of Vittorio's quote) has become enormously widespread.  (Do you mean to tell me in your busy life, LSP, that you're not reading enough women's magazines?  Peccato )


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## saramattia

"That would be a bit of a deal breaker". Can anyone hel me with this? i have already read the other discussion on these words, but just don't understand...to give you a bit of context, the guy saying it is talking about design and in particular about a table. Thanks


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## disegno

A "deal breaker" is a bit of information that convinces you to enter into an agreement or to buy something.

For instance:
"I am not sure I want to go into business with you. The deal breaker would be if you were to offer me $10,000 more and the chance to live in Italy."

In the situation you suggest about the table design, without knowing the full context of the situation, it might mean the unique aspect of the table design that makes it desirable above other table designs.

"The design of the table is really wonderful, but the deal breaker is that it is made from a material that will never scratch and is virtually indestructible."


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## TrentinaNE

disegno said:


> A "deal breaker" is a bit of information that convinces you to enter into an agreement or to buy something.


Ciao, disegno.   

Most of the discussion above suggests that "deal breaker" is the opposite: it's the bit of information that convinces you to walk away from an agreement or purchase.  I don't think I've heard it in the positive sense, but maybe that's a "California thing"?   

A presto,
Elisabetta


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## disegno

I consider deal breaker also to be something that turns the tide or upsets the status quo.


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## guixols

I have to agree with Elisabetta. I use "deal breaker" in the negative sense. The opposite (to me) would be something that "seals the deal".
Ciao,
G.


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## ElaineG

guixols said:


> I have to agree with Elisabetta. I use "deal breaker" in the negative sense. The opposite (to me) would be something that "seals the deal".
> Ciao,
> G.


 
Bingo!


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## DCLB

Ammazza un accordo seems a little weird... what about "cavillo?"


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## Paulfromitaly

DCLB said:


> Ammazza un accordo seems a little weird... what about "cavillo?"



Come spiegato in precedenza SIGNIFICANT vuole dire esattamente l'opposto di cavillo.



You little ripper! said:


> A _deal breaker_ is _any factor that is* significant enough* to terminate a negotiation_. It's a term that is used in business or politics.


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## ulyssem

Ma che ne dite di "spartiacque" per "deal-breaker"?


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## london calling

ulyssem said:


> Ma che ne dite di "spartiacque" per "deal-breaker"?


Secondo me non rende la negatività del termine e comunque significa una cosa diversa. Dal dizionario WRF: spartiacque.


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## Teerex51

london calling said:


> Secondo me non rende la negatività del termine e comunque significa una cosa diversa. Dal dizionario WRF: spartiacque.


I agree. _Spartiacque_ is watershed, while _deal breaker_ is a request or condition that kills a deal, i.e., it prevents the parties from reaching an agreement.

Earlier posts in this thread made it sufficiently clear.


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## ulyssem

Teerex51 said:


> I agree. _Spartiacque_ is watershed, while _deal breaker_ is a request or condition that kills a deal, i.e., it prevents the parties from reaching an agreement.
> 
> Earlier posts in this thread made it sufficiently clear.



I have read the earlier posts, indeed,
but I see the term "deal-breaker" is more and more commonly used in the relationship field,
so, "non-smoker" is a deal-breaker, "cheating" is a deal-breaker, "gambling" is a deal-breaker,

and in Italian you can easily pick the word "spartiacque" in a similar context: "scoprire che frequentava i casinò è stato lo spartiacque per me", surely none of the earlier definitions would work for deal-breaker in the relationship context, "spartiacque" is the only one the comes to my mind, and if you use it in this context it keeps all the "condition that kills a dead" nuance, which other term would you suggest, otherwise?


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## Teerex51

It entirely depends on the context. 

_Spartiacque_ (i.e., figuratively _elemento che divide_) might work - though not for me - when dealing with relationships and matters of the heart. (Personally, I would go for "ultima goccia", even though it's another metaphor and may not suit every single situation of this nature).

In a business context, _spartiacque_ is clearly a non-flyer. _Punto di rottura (della trattativa) _is an option I'd go for, but there's more.


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## ulyssem

Teerex51 said:


> It entirely depends on the context.
> 
> _Spartiacque_ (i.e., figuratively _elemento che divide_) might work - though not for me - when dealing with relationships and matters of the heart. (Personally, I would go for "ultima goccia", even though it's another metaphor and may not suit every single situation of this nature).
> 
> In a business context, _spartiacque_ is clearly a non-flyer. _Punto di rottura (della trattativa) _is an option I'd go for, but there's more.




"Ultima goccia" is a good one, but it's more fit to describe a gradual situation, a progression, while, in the relationship matter, "deal-breaker" is more of a "yes" or "no", closer to a criteria concept, it could even be a tool to "select" candidates, in terms of partners, as it could be a tool to describe what you will and won't take from your partner, not even once...


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## Teerex51

I hear you, but I'm still not buying _spartiacque _and probably never will. 

I'd rather go with _scoglio, muro_ accompanied by a suitable modifier. But I wonder what the rest of the WRF gang thinks.


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## chiara78

Mi viene in mente "deterrente"


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## Markuz_87

Personalmente penso che "deterrente" sia perfetto..
In alcuni casi più rari a me è capitato di sentire che i madrelingua stessi lo usano in senso esattamente opposto (non so se erroneamente o meno) come se si trattasse di un "fattore determinante" o di una "conditio sine qua non"...


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