# morti bianche



## Lars Raggio

I can't find a reference to 'morti bianchi' . . . in context from a news story:

"Quella delle morti bianche è una piaga antica nella regione. . ."

does this use the same inference as notte bianche? The curse of folks dying or being killed in the wee hours?  My first post . . thanks, Larry


----------



## Istrice 2111

Actually it is referred to workers who die at work


----------



## Poianone

Hi Lars, welcome to the Forum!!
"Morti bianche" identifies the deadly accidents at works


----------



## confusion

Poianone said:


> Hi Lars, welcome to the Forum!!
> "Morti bianche" identifies the deadly accidents at works


 
REALLY??
I've never heard this use of the words "morti bianche"! 
I knew it's used when children die in the first years of their lives, when you can't find out what the cause of the death was. 

But for sure the right meaning it's the one you said!


----------



## kia76

Hi confusion,

I also heard the same meaning of "morti bianche" that you wrote. In this case the scientific translation in English is SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) = sindrome da morte in culla.
I've never heard the other meaning...

baci
Chia


----------



## Poianone

confusion said:


> REALLY??
> I've never heard this use of the words "morti bianche"!
> I knew it's used when children die in the first years of their lives, when you can't find out what the cause of the death was.
> 
> But for sure the right meaning it's the one you said!


 


kia76 said:


> Hi confusion,
> 
> I also heard the same meaning of "morti bianche" that you wrote. In this case the scientific translation in English is SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) = sindrome da morte in culla.
> I've never heard the other meaning...
> 
> baci
> Chia


Dear Confusion and Chiara, I don't know exactly who is right! It is also possible that both the meanings are correct... If it helps, I found this on La Repubblica, and this link

EDIT: an additional search confirmed the meaning of "morte bianca" as the sudden infant death syndrome, so both of the meanings are correct. The right one for Lars will depend from the context!


----------



## infinite sadness

I agree with istrice e poianone: "morti bianche" identifies the phoenomenon of workers who die at work because of no respect of legal standards of safety.


----------



## ElaineG

At Lar's request, here is the context for his question -- it's from the Corriere della Sera:



> "Basta morti bianche"
> la voce dei sindacati
> per fermare la strage
> 
> Quella delle morti bianche è una piaga antica nella regione, come ha
> ricordato ieri la Cgil. "A sei mesi dall'incendio nella fabbrica di
> materassi in provincia di Salerno, che costò la vita a due operaie di cui
> una appena 15enne, ancora non si è trovato un responsabile".


----------



## TimLA

When you see the phrase "morti bianche" do you think of "white deaths" or "plain deaths" (like pizza bianca)?

What's in your mind as you read it?


----------



## uinni

TimLA said:


> When you see the phrase "morti bianche" do you think of "white deaths" or "plain deaths" (like pizza bianca)?
> 
> What's in your mind as you read it?


The deaths at work are a fenomenon on which the media have put their attention only recently, so lately the term "morti bianche" is likely to recall that meaning, but in the (recent) past it would certainly be got mainly as SIDIS.

Uinni


----------



## ElaineG

> phenomenon


 
I'm so happy when you turn up that I have to correct you for old times' sake.


----------



## uinni

ElaineG said:


> I'm so happy when you turn up that I have to correct you for old times' sake.


Thank you (I ought to practis/ce)!

Uinni


----------



## audia

What is morti bianche. I heard it while watching RAI 1
Thanks


----------



## Necsus

It's a death in consequence of an industrial injury.


----------



## audia

thanks for the quick repy


----------



## Necsus

You're welcome. And welcome to the WRF too!


----------



## audia

Grazie, Nescus,  
I don't mean to 'look a gift horse in the mouth' but it is better to say  'its as a consequence not 'in consequence' of...    
Audia


----------



## Necsus

And also your suggestions are very welcome!


----------



## audia

This seems to be a very current topic . I wonder what the word bianci conotes for Italians in connection which morti. Does bianchi give the sense of something covert or unreported. Why the choice of the word bianchi?


----------



## Gianni2

Quando persone hanno perso la vita quando erano a lavoro il tg  usa l'espressione 'morti bianche'.  Perchè?


----------



## Benzene

Gianni2 said:


> Quando persone hanno perso la vita quando erano a lavoro il tg  usa l'espressione 'morti bianche'.  Perchè?


 
HI!My opinion is as followings:"Morti bianche" mean death of an innocent, as a child is him. When the small dead body, already from many centuries ago, was dressed with a white suit. Its coffin was of white color, as also today this custom is in our traditions.From this fact the metaphor "Morti bianche" was born"Bye.Benzene


----------



## martina_s

The words "morti bianche" is referred to "Lupara Bianca". It's the way that in 80s-90s years was called the Mafia. Bianco/a which we can translate with "white", means that killed people desappeared: they were killed by mafia (Lupara bianca) and then their bodies desappeared. We don't really know if in cement or in aced, but what is sure is that people desappeared and nobody knowed why, where or how.

Recently on tv or on newspapers, "morti bianche" is used for deaths on job because the construction site owner tried (in the past) to canceal everything (like mafia) about the accidents because their workers didn't have a legal contract of job or there weren't legal standards of safety. 

Nowadays "morti bianche" means the same, but it is more difficult to cancel.

How can I translate exactly "morti bianche" in English?
I would like to know what does "white deaths" mean in Enlish? Does it means the same or is it used only for children deaths in their first years of life?


----------



## Sanacore

Valid said:


> Please explain "morti bianchi." I see it in today's Corriere della Sera online. Perhaps it has to do with May Day observances?
> Grazie.


 
Morti Bianche are WORK RELATED DEATHS


----------



## infinite sadness

ElaineG said:


> I'm so happy when you turn up that I have to correct you for old times' sake.


Thank you. I saw this just now.


----------



## rubuk

Narf said:


> Cos'e la "morte bianca"? E la morte accidentale pendante il lavoro?



Attualmente direi di si, per la SIDIS, io ho le traduzioni: morte infantile, morte in culla e il termine franco/belga ma usato anche in italia "mort subite": da syndrome de mort subite du nourrisson.


----------



## infinite sadness

TimLA said:


> When you see the phrase "morti bianche" do you think of "white deaths" or "plain deaths" (like pizza bianca)?
> 
> What's in your mind as you read it?


Don't know if I understood the question. Anyway, I see it as "silent deaths", deaths which don't cause sensation.


----------



## TimLA

infinite sadness said:


> Don't know if I understood the question. Anyway, I see it as "silent deaths", deaths which don't cause sensation.



Thanks for your response!
I think my question was more about the "bianche" and it's use in this particular situation.

I've seen the word "bianche" used in many different contexts outside of "white" and am curious as to what natives picture in their minds with the word "bianche" here. 

So you see it at "silent/quiet/plain" deaths...
Thanks very much!


----------



## Einstein

I've always understood the "bianche" part as a euphemism. As they are not the result of planned murders, which one might like to call "morti nere" (although this expression is not used), they are called "bianche" to suggest that it's nobody's fault.
In reality they are often, though not always, the result of criminal neglect by employers.


----------



## giovannino

Einstein said:


> I've always understood the "bianche" part as a euphemism. As they are not the result of planned murders, which one might like to call "morti nere" (although this expression is not used), they are called "bianche" to suggest that it's nobody's fault.
> In reality they are often, though not always, the result of criminal neglect by employers.


 
I, too, have always perceived it as a euphemism. What is interesting is that the euphemism seems to have gained ground compared to more explicit phrases.
Devoto Oli makes a difference between "morte bianca" ("dovuta all'assideramento o causata dall'eroina") and "omicidio bianco" ("morte per incidente sul lavoro").
De Mauro, which is more up-to-date, reflects the extension of the meaning of "morte bianca" at the expense of "omicidio bianco":

*morte bianca* loc.s.f. 
1 TS med., m. provocata da assideramento 
2 CO nel linguaggio sindacale e giornalistico, m. causata da un incidente sul lavoro, spec. per inadeguate misure di sicurezza 

According to Wikipedia:

"All'interno del movimento operaio italiano, a partire dagli anni '60, si è diffuso il termine *omicidi del lavoro* per indicare con nettezza le responsabilità dirette dei sistemi di produzione delle economie industrializzate rispetto alle scarse condizioni di sicurezza dei luoghi di lavoro...
Negli ultimi anni, sulla stampa e all'interno del movimento dei lavoratori, per definire il fenomeno sono stati utilizzati anche i termini *morti bianche* e *omicidi bianchi*"

It's odd that even websites denouncing "omicidi bianchi" should prefer to use the euphemistic "morti bianche". See, for example, http://www.mortibianche.it/


----------



## Einstein

> It's odd that even websites denouncing "omicidi bianchi" should prefer to use the euphemistic "morti bianche".


 
Odd indeed, but in a country where counter-reforms are regularly called reforms anything is possible!


----------



## GavinW

Sanacore said:


> Morti Bianche are WORK RELATED DEATHS


 
There's been a lot of info on definitions here, but perhaps more suggestions for workable translations might also help. Sanacore's suggestion is probably OK (although I prefer it written "work-related deaths), although I could quibble it's possibly too vague. Personally, I generally say something like "fatal accidents in the workplace". I find this expression captures something of the news reporting/journalistic/formal (and quasi-legalistic?) flavour of the original term.


----------



## giovannino

Judging from a quick search on Google these are all widely used:

_fatal accidents in the workplace_

_fatal work-related accidents_

_work-related deaths_

_fatal accidents at work_

_fatal workplace accidents_


----------



## Zenof

TimLA said:


> When you see the phrase "morti bianche" do you think of "white deaths" or "plain deaths" (like pizza bianca)?
> 
> What's in your mind as you read it?


 
I think of "white death" because generally these kinds of deaths are intended as accidents, (only recently there's the aknowledge about negligect of safety rules) and they differ from "morte violenta" when someone is killed.
In fact also in the news papers we have the section called "cronaca nera" and it talks about anything violent that has happened like murders.


----------



## Einstein

Zenof said:


> I think of "white death" because generally these kinds of death are intended *understood/considered/seen* as accidents (only recently there's the a*c*knowledge*ment* *of **neglect* of safety rules) and they differ from "morte violenta" when someone is killed.


In English the verb "intend" refers to intentions, it doesn't mean "understand".


----------



## TimLA

Zenof said:


> I think of "white death" because generally these kinds of deaths are intended as accidents, (only recently there's the aknowledge about negligect of safety rules) and they differ from "morte violenta" when someone is killed.
> In fact also in the news papers we have the section called "cronaca nera" and it talks about anything violent that has happened like murders.



Excellent...thank you.

This confirms Einstein's comments (and others) in terms of the euphemism.

I'm sure there are similar phrases in AE, but I just can't think of any right now.

I was thinking about "white noise", but it's a bit more technical in that it contains all the "colors" of noise (like "white light").

My comment about the "pizza bianca" was from walking into a pizzeria, seeing that sign, and thinking "that pizza's not white, it's brown!"


----------



## Zenof

Einstein said:


> In English the verb "intend" refers to intentions, it doesn't mean "understand".


 
Thanks,
actually I did mean "considered " but I wrote "intend" and made other silly mistakes. Surely I was thinking in Italian 

TimLA
My comment about the "pizza bianca" was from walking into a pizzeria, seeing that sign, and thinking "that pizza's not white, it's brown!" 

_pizza bianca_ is a pizza without tomato sauce


----------



## cl0493

Hello!
I'm translating a film review of the film _La nostra vita_, dir.  by D. Lucchetti, released 2010.

The sentence describes a crucial turning point in the film for the  protagonist, Claudio. I am unsure of how to capture in English _la morte bianca_ in the sentence.

"La vita di Claudio sembra perfetta, inizia a crollare quando decide di   non denunciare *la morte bianca* che avviene nel cantiere dove lavora."

I've attempted: "Claudio’s life seems perfect, but it begins to crumble  when he decides not to report a fatal incident that occurs on the  building site where he works."

The review makes reference to the same term again later but in plural:

"La periferia romana era lo scenario perfetto per portare sullo schermo   l’Italia degli stranieri invisibili, *delle morti bianche*, dei centro   commerciali che sostituiscono le piazze, degli immobiliaristi   improvvisati, “gli spietati” del far west italiano."

I've attempted: "The outskirts of Rome was the perfect scenario to bring  to the big screen the Italy of illegal foreign workers, undeclared work  fatalities, commercial centers which replace town squares, ad-hoc real  estate agents; "the cut throats" of the Italian Wild West.

Many thanks!


----------



## elfa

Hello and welcome 

Would "fatal accident" go better in your first sentence? _Morte bianca_ is failure on the part of an employer to observe safety rules or to be implicated in the cause of an accident, right?

In your second sentence, I might say

_The outskirts of Rome made the perfect setting in which to highlight __the problem of illegal foreign workers, unreported fatalities in the workplace, the building of commercial centres to replace town squares, the burgeoning of real-estate agents, considered the cut-throats of the Italian wild west, __on the big screen._


----------



## cl0493

That all makes much more sense, thank you elfa!


----------

