# Avere un chiodo fisso



## disegno

La frase "avere un chiodo fisso" vuol dire lo stesso di "avere un desiderio forte di fare qualcosa", vero? Per esempio, va bene dire "Ho un chiodo fisso per imparare bene l'Italiano." Questa espressione è usato molto nella lingua comune?


----------



## Alfry

it means that you have an idea nailed in your head and you keep thinking at it!


----------



## disegno

okay, avere una nozione nella testa che non puoi tirare fuori o non puoi dimenticarne?


----------



## Alfry

no, hai un pensiero ricorrente, a recurring thought


----------



## disegno

non voglio essere difficile, ma se non puoi dimenticare qualcosa, non è un pensiero ricorrente?


----------



## Alfry

let's work this out with an example:
you keep asking me if I want to play chess... ma hai un chiodo fisso?


----------



## Jana337

Alfry said:
			
		

> let's work this out with an example:
> you keep asking me if I want to play chess... ma hai un chiodo fisso?


Se capisco bene, una persona amata con cui non vivo più ma non la posso dimenticare non sarà un chiodo fisso?

Jana


----------



## Alfry

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Se capisco bene, una persona amata con cui non vivo più ma non la posso dimenticare non sarà un chiodo fisso?
> Jana


 
volendo si potrebbe, ma in quel caso un chiodo fisso è paragonabile ad un'ossessione

un altro esempio

non riesco a levarmi dalla mente quel televisore che ho visto al negozio. è un chiodo fisso, me lo devo comprare a tutti i costi


----------



## moodywop

disegno said:
			
		

> Per esempio, va bene dire "Ho un chiodo fisso per imparare bene l'Italiano."


 
Non so gli altri, ma io non penso che si possa usare così. As you can see from Alfry's excellent example , we usually state what the obiect of our obsession is and then stick _è un chiodo fisso _at the end.

_Ho deciso che devo assolutamente imparare bene l'italiano prima di trasferirmi in Italia. E' un vero chiodo fisso_

And in response to Jana I think it can very well be used to refer to romamntic obsession:

_Povero ragazzo! Da quando Laura l'ha lasciato non fa altro che pensare a come riconquistarla. E' proprio un chiodo fisso per lui_

After all, don't we use the same image in _chiodo scaccia chiodo(_any idea how this could be rendered in English?):

_Vedrai. Prima o poi incontrerà un'altra ragazza. Chiodo scaccia chiodo_

I've noticed that many dictionaries translate _un chiodo fisso _as _a bee in one's bonnet _but I have a feeling they're often used in different contexts.

Carlo


----------



## Jana337

moodywop said:
			
		

> I've noticed that many dictionaries translate _un chiodo fisso _as _a bee in one's bonnet _but I have a feeling they're often used in different contexts.


Me too. I think that _a bee in the bonnet _is much higher on the scale of loopiness. 

Jana



			
				moodywop said:
			
		

> After all, don't we use the same image in _chiodo scaccia chiodo(_any idea how this could be rendered in English?):


One nail drives out another. But "time heals all wounds" conveys a similar idea.

Jana


----------



## moodywop

Jana337 said:
			
		

> One nail drives out another. But "time heals all wounds" conveys a similar idea.
> 
> Jana


 
Thanks Jana. I just said goodnight in another post(I have to get up early) but I just have to respond to what you said. As someone who is still looking for a nail to drive out the previous one  I would contend that the two sayings are quite different. Time may well heal your wounds even though you haven't met someone new. Or at least I hope so! 

ciao

Carlo


----------



## lsp

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Me too. I think that _a bee in the bonnet _is much higher on the scale of loopiness.
> 
> Jana


It's not really loopier, but don't say it to anyone under 30.


----------



## V52

disegno said:
			
		

> grazie, temo di essere un rompiscatole con questo chiodo fisso.


 
dear Disegno you have a "chiodo fisso"  for "chiodo fisso!" 

IMHO to understand  the  expression "avere un chiodo fisso"  is to think at your  wish, desire, passion as a mania, this is a "chiodo fisso" . The complete expression is "avere un chiodo fisso in testa" "to have a nail stuck in your head" . I guess the expression becomes from the rituality of  christian  confirmation (italian : cresima).  In ancient christian rituality the sacrament of "confirmation"  was represented by a nail symbolically stuck in front of the  "confirmed"  (more mania than that...) 
Vitt52


----------



## Silvia

Vittorio52 said:
			
		

> I guess the expression becomes from the rituality of  christian  confirmation (italian : cresima).


 I would have thought that it was associated to a figurative image of sickness. After all, manias make you sick. When you have a headache and you feel the pain, you often describe it saying "picchia", just as if there was a hammer hitting (a nail into it), and you feel the pulse. Sicuramente ho molta immaginazione


----------



## JasonNPato

Silvia said:
			
		

> Thanks Jason, now it's clear. The way it was worded, it looked like an aphorism or something like that. In particular, the fact that giornata is feminine and the pronoun "la" after it were misleading.
> 
> You know...it's funny...the hardest part of going through a day...is trying to leave her alone long enough for her to get her work done.
> so I am sorry for that.
> 
> Sai, la cosa assurda è... che è difficile durante il giorno cercare di lasciarla per conto suo per darle il tempo di fare il suo lavoro e non vorrei.
> 
> Alternative per "fare il suo lavoro":
> fare i suoi lavori
> sbrigare le sue faccende
> studiare e portare a termine i suoi impegni
> ecc.
> 
> I would even add something and rephrase it (I think it's meant to be colloquial):
> Sai, quando sono libero tutto il giorno, la cosa assurda è avere un sacco di tempo per stare insieme e doverla lasciare per conto suo perché deve studiare, fare i compiti ecc. e mi ruga
> 
> (it sounds like you're talking of your girlfriend! Be sure she's not going to be a chiodo fisso  )
> 
> P.S.: When something's assurdo or paradossale, it's a controsenso.


 
First, thank you Silvia, for your reply to my other post.  
Now for my question: I do not understand this phrase "chiodo fisso"
What does it mean?
I assume it means something like...be sure she doesn't become "fixed" on your brain...but I am not sure???

Can anyone help?
Thank you,
Jason


----------



## winnie

yes! it means _she doesn't become an obsession for you_ (or _to you_? would you correct that please?)


----------



## JasonNPato

winnie said:
			
		

> yes! it means _she doesn't become an obsession for you_ (or _to you_? would you correct that please?)


 
either one works (to you or for you), and both are really correct. It is pretty much up to you which one you use in this case.
However, "to you" sounds a little more fluent, I suppose. From my international friends, I more often would hear "for you" in a similar context, whereas, it seems, from my american friends, I more often hear "to you," though they may also use "for you."

I hope I have not been too confusing.  If I have, just forget everything I said after "it's up to you"  like I said, both are fine.

and thanks for your help!
Jason

one more thing: on your signature "your corrections are welcomed"...it also sounds more fluent if you leave off the "d". Thus: "Your corrections are welcome"
or more simply, "corrections welcome" 
When used as an adjective, we don't really ever say welcome*d. *The only time we would say that is when we were using it as a verb. For instance, "When they visted, I welcomed Jon's family into my home."


----------



## Silvia

JasonNPato said:
			
		

> Now for my question: I do not understand this phrase "chiodo fisso"
> What does it mean?


If you feel the urge to translate it...
chiodo fisso = permanent idea/thought
or as previously suggested by the other members.


----------



## Adel

My beautiful, fantastic 2001 Italian and English Idioms translates "avere un chiodo fisso" with "to have a bug in one's brain".

Adel


----------



## lsp

Avere un chiodo fisso explained here.


----------



## Beccaccia

Thanks ISP for the reply

avere un chiodo fisso in testa is an ancient Christian ritual , that expression became part of the language. which seems to be used without the "testa" 
seems to be used chiodo fisso = permanent idea/thought


Best
Grazie per le vostre risposte


----------



## lsp

Beccaccia said:


> Grazie per le vostre risposte


You're welcome, but since mine is the only reply so far, you can't use "le vostre risposte," which addresses more than one person for more than one reply.
, L


----------



## Beccaccia

lsp said:


> You're welcome, but since mine is the only reply so far, you can't use "le vostre risposte," which addresses more than one person for more than one reply.





lsp said:


> , L


 
Point taken , how about hmmm Sì, grazie per il tuo aiuto or Grazie per aver risposto 
but since 

the point of the forum is to develop an understanding of Italian language and the question of how to use Avere and Essere 
With the following responses if you agree how would you develop a sentence using the same, and would you define the use as to inanimate objects and to animate objects 

Ho corso per tre chilometri. Avere
Sono corso da lei. Essere


Sì, grazie per il tuo aiuto


----------



## Correre

Is "avere un chiodo fisso" neutral, i.e. can have positive and negative connotations?
Thanks!


----------



## Enigmista

Yes depending on the context can be "neutral" too 

Come nel caso di avere un _*idea fissa*_ su un qualcosa che non necessariamente deve avere una connotazione negativa


----------



## joanvillafane

I don't think I've seen anyone offer "fixation" as a translation.  It's used rather frequently here:
She has a fixation about .... (a person, a thing, a place, a habit/action, etc.) 
It's a little milder than "obsession" and is often used humorously.  She has a fixation about elephants - her house is decorated with elephant wallpaper, etc....


----------



## lapu

Buonasera a tutti, 
per favore mi aiutereste a tradurre la frase:
"ho un chiodo fisso nella testa"
ho provato con "i have an obsession in my mind"...
so che I have an obsession regge la preposizione with, ma in questo caso non voglio dire qual è la mia ossessione, voglio solo esprimere il concetto di "avere un chiodo fisso"
Grazie per l'attenzione


----------



## chipulukusu

Non so se sono solo io, ma "_I have an obsession in my mind" _mi sembra ridondante... non è sufficiente "_I have an obsession"?_


----------



## King Crimson

Lapu, c'è già questo thread...


----------



## lapu

*S*cusa! non l'avevo visto!
*M*a cmq *comunque* l'espressione I have a nail stuck in my head non fa al caso mio.
Mi servirebbe piuttosto riuscire a tradurre "ho un pensiero fisso che mi ossessiona"
Nel thread che mi hai indicato non trovo risposte adatte...
volevo solo sapere, se fosse possibile, se la frase "I have an obsession on my brain/mind" è corretta.
Grazie


----------



## Ref_126

"That boy has a one-track mind. All he thinks about is his girlfriend" (Urban Dictionary)

This phrase often refers to someone's strong preoccupation with sex but may also relate  to other kinds of obsessions.


----------

