# il X  di turno



## luisangela

hi, anyone heard of this expression, I can't find it in any dictionaries-

'C'e anche il nero di turno, il bel Al...' 

It's part of a passage I need to translate in uni.  Also, would 'rockettaro' be 'rocker'?

Thank you!


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## Parergon

Rockettaro = rocker 

Could you provide a little more context about the first expression?
Thanks.


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## luisangela

Thanks Paregon, the context is an article about pretend boyfriends, 'A boyfriend in a box'/ 'Il fidanzato fai-da-te'.  The preceeding sentences are:

La Hamilton offre ai suoi clienti vari tipi di 'Boyfriend-In-A-Box'. C'e Frank, un aitante pompiere con i baffi rossi.  C'e Miles, Il rockaterro con i cappelli lunghi.  C'e in dottore che gioca a tennis.  C'e anche il nero di turno, il bel Al 'tutto cervello e bicipiti' che posa a torso nudo.....

Does it maybe mean that , 'in turn, there is also a good looking black man/guy'?

Thanks...


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## Parergon

Yes, I suppose your guess is right. Well done! ;9

Anyway – just to be sure – labelling someone as "il nero" is certainly not polite or p.c.


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## Angel.Aura

luisangela said:


> Thanks Paregon, the context is an article about pretend boyfriends, 'A boyfriend in a box'/ 'Il fidanzato fai-da-te'.  The preceeding sentences are:
> 
> La Hamilton offre ai suoi clienti vari tipi di 'Boyfriend-In-A-Box'. C'e Frank, un aitante pompiere con i baffi rossi.  C'e Miles, Il rockaterro con i cappelli lunghi.  C'e in dottore che gioca a tennis.  C'e anche il nero di turno, il bel Al 'tutto cervello e bicipiti' che posa a torso nudo.....
> 
> Does it maybe mean that , 'in turn, there is also a good looking black man/guy'?
> 
> Thanks...




_PS Parergon, sorry for crossing (I'm always soooooo sloooow)_


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## luisangela

No, your right, it isn't really, nor is there a polite way of putting the sentence in English....Very strange.

Thank you very much though!!


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## GavinW

No. "Il nero di turno" can only mean "the token black guy", where "black" is not in any way non-PC. It's OK. Even the term "token black" is not offensive. The idea of tokenism itself is, of course, dismissive of black people. 

But I don't think that this text itself supports the idea that having a token black around is to be applauded in any way.


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## r-t

"di turno" may well be in the sense of "on duty" or "working a shift"? "Smartly dressed in uniform", perhaps?


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## Velvet

r-t said:


> "di turno" may well be in the sense of "on duty" or "working a shift"? "Smartly dressed in uniform", perhaps?


 
I wouldn't say so...
"di turno" in this sentence simply sounds like "as expected" meaning that in a really exhaustive catalogue you must have at least one black guy(= one of each item, that is...) 


Velvet


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## GavinW

Velvet said:


> "di turno" in this sentence simply sounds like "as expected" meaning that in a really exhaustive catalogue you must have at least one black guy(= one of each item, that is...)


 
Exactly. You always expect at least one, and usually only one, of certain items in a group, list, category, catalogue etc. And usually the reason that item appears at all is for symbolic purposes. Ergo my suggestion "token", for instance.


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## luisangela

Thanks, that's exactly what I think it means. I missed the class on the translation and think perhaps there was probably some discussion on its inappropriateness..


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## abyra1

Hello, is there anyone that knows the meaning of facoltoso di turno?
Thanks in advance
abyra1


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## Angel.Aura

Hi abyra1, welcome to the Forum 

We need the whole sentence where you found those words and we'd like to work on your attempt of translation.
Thank you.


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## abyra1

The complete frase is "....ragazzini con la faccia da schiaffi che si prendevano a botte per arraffare la mancia del facoltoso di turno....
Thanks in advance


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## thelondoner

In that case I think you can just do without translating it by using the indefinite article. It literally means "the wealthy man (il facoltoso) on call (di turno)", i.e. the one who was there in that very situation, the one who happened to be there.


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## abyra1

thelondoner said:


> In that case I think you can just do without translating it by using the indefinite article. It literally means "the wealthy man (il facoltoso) on call (di turno)", i.e. the one who was there in that very situation, the one who happened to be there.


Thank you. I think it looks OK
abyra1


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## urizon9

Ciao a tutti ! Can someone help me with this? I suspect it may need one of these  (not sure). _Con tanto di predica "riabilitativa" del_ *pretazzo di turno.*Grazie!


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## Saoul

Prete - dispregiativo Pretaccio/Pretazzo

With the usual "rehabilitative" sermon of the usual boring priest.

Il "Di turno" is quite interesting. It means something like "there's always one priest who is ready to tell a sermon about something"... I can't find any proper translation for that... I'm not even sure I explained that anyway.


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## urizon9

Grazie mille, Saoul! Tutto chiaro! (the word I should have searched for was"prete"). Ciao!


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## m.d.d

Hi everyone !

What could the phrase "la stronza di turno" mean ? 

I know what "stronza" means, but I can't quite put the pieces together for the whole expression.


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## AlabamaBoy

The b---h of our office, the b---h on duty


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## Paulfromitaly

Have you checked this?

il nero  *di turno*



AlabamaBoy said:


> The b---h of our office, the b---h on duty



Does "the B of our office" have the same meaning as "the token B", as suggested in this other thread?


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## AlabamaBoy

Paulfromitaly said:


> Does "the B of our office" have the same meaning as "the token B", as suggested in this other thread?



The meanings of "the B of the office", "the B on duty" and the "token B" are very similar. The "token B" doesn't work quite as well, because there is not any political pressure to have a B in the office, because they are not recognized as a valid minority group.


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## Paulfromitaly

Mm..I believe we'd need a full sentence here as the meaning of "di turno" is not the easiest to grasp..

I hope all the ladies will pardon me if I make up another "Biatch" example 
Imagine a situation or a place where you kind of expect there must be at least one B.
For example you're at the Post office and there are 10 clerks behind the counter.
Statistics say at least of them is a B 
The place is crowded and you're in a hurry. After queueing up for 30 minutes it's finally your turn. You say Hello, you hand her the paper you've previously filled out..but you realise you forgot to sign it!
As soon as the B takes as look at your form she looks right into your eyes and says "I'm sorry, you forgot to sign it. Come back only when you have correctly filled in your form".
Wait a moment, I've been queueing up for half an hour already, can't you just hand me a pen and let me sign it here??
"Sorry, that's against the procedure."

Although you're kind enough not to tell her to F off, you do think "ecco la stronza di turno!!"

(Something similar happened between me and an immigration Officer at the LAX airport )


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## AlabamaBoy

Paul, let me apologize for your experience in Los Angeles. 

*Here's the fulfillment of my B quota for the day! *Of all the clerks for me to get, I have to get the *B on duty/the B of the whole Post Office.
*


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## Paulfromitaly

AlabamaBoy said:


> Paul, let me apologize for your experience in Los Angeles.


I'm Italian, I'm used to dealing with jerks who sit behind a counter 


AlabamaBoy said:


> *Here's the fulfillment of my B quota for the day! *Of all the  clerks for me to get, I have to get the *B on duty/the B of the whole  Post Office.
> *



Would you still say "B on duty" if the B in question did a job in which she  is not on/off duty?


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## AlabamaBoy

I might say "*the B of the day*" or "*the world's biggest B*" or "*there's a B in every crowd*." To be honest, I can't think of a completely equivalent expression. But in this case "on duty" is clearly figurative. As if someone hired a B to torment me.


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## Paulfromitaly

AlabamaBoy said:


> As if someone hired a B to torment me.


This is basically what "di turno" means, even though you can also say "lo scemo di turno" if, for example, there's a wasted guy in a pub who's acting like a jerk. 
You kind of expect to find a drunken guy acting like that in a crowded pub, but still his behaviour bothers you.


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## ElisaAAA

Hi guys, thanks for these nice and useful explanations.... Just wanted to let you know you made me laugh for 5 minutes 
Un abbraccio a tutti!

Elisa


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## sabrinafjm

Hello All,

I'm translating a corporate training document about active listening. This phrase is a bullet point under things not to do when listening actively as part of a negotiation. Here's the source text:

Ascoltare in modo attivo significa cercare di fare nostra l’obiezione e capirne realmente la portata. Per fare ciò bisogna evitare di:

- giudicare il nostro interlocutore appena apre bocca, *pensando subito si tratti dello scocciatore di turno*;

My attempt:

Active listening means making an effort to embrace the objection and to really understand what it means. To do this, you must avoid:

- judging the other person as soon as they start to speak, *immediately thinking about whether to be a pain in the arse in return*;

Clearly I've got this wrong  Can anyone help me with what it actually means?

Many thanks!


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## alicip

Hi there. Have you tried to look these terms up? 
A few hints:
http://www.wordreference.com/iten/scocciatore = http://www.wordreference.com/iten/rompiscatole
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/folle-di-turno.2645977/
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/la-stronza-di-turno.1764255/
So, in other words: - judging *the other person* as soon as they start to speak, *immediately thinking that he/she is "lo scocciatore di turno". *
Hope this helps.


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## elfa

Would you use "pain in the arse" in a corporate training document? Anyway, perhaps "proverbial" might go here?_

...thinking immediately that he or she is the proverbial pain in the arse. _


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## joanvillafane

Would you use "pain in the arse" in a corporate training document? No, I certainly wouldn't   Even "pain in the neck" is too strong, I think. 

Let's clean it up a little -
 .....the proverbial  (or usual) nuisance/pest/annoyance/bother


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## tsoapm

Wouldn’t _di turno_ be more like of the moment/current rather than proverbial?


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## elfa

tsoapm said:


> Wouldn’t _di turno_ be more like of the moment/current rather than proverbial?



Well, awaiting a native's confirmation, of course, I see it as someone doing their stint as the "scocciatore". So I think "proverbial" covers that - someone stepping up and being a nuisance. I don't see it as being necessarily the _same_ person each time.


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## tsoapm

elfa said:


> someone doing their stint as the "scocciatore".


Exactly.





elfa said:


> So I think "proverbial" covers that


And here’s where we part company. 

*Edit: *Actually, I think I can see where you’re coming from now; it’s not just a very immediate translation of the concept in my view.


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## sabrinafjm

Thanks everyone for your help! 

In this case, the scocciatore is the hypothetical negotiation partner that the reader may meet at some point in the future. The document suggesting that the reader not be a jerk by assuming that the other person is a jerk without even bothering to listen to them.

How about:

To do this, you must avoid:
- judging the other person as soon as they start to speak, and immediately deciding that [they’re an idiot/they don't know what they're talking about];

Is it necessary to retain the "of the day" phrasing here?


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## alicip

I really like "the habitual pest" as in:
The one great pity is,* there will always be the habitual pest* on the road, simply because no amount of law enforcement will educate an idiot.


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