# Neapolitan: Me pare Pascale passaguai



## CynthiaC

Ciao a tutti.

Sto cercando di rendere in inglese questa espressione del dialetto napoletano "me pare Pascale passaguai", in italiano "mi sembra Pasquale passaguai".
Ho qualche difficoltà nel tradurre "passaguai".
Per chi non conoscesse il significato, serve ad indicare una persona che parla  solo di guai, di problemi e di altre cose negative che capitano sempre a lui/lei.
Sarà allora esistito in passato un tale Pasquale che, grazie al fatto che si trovava  spesso nei guai, si meritò quel soprannome.

Come tradurre "passare un guaio" o "passaguaio"?

Io tradurrei in questo modo :
It reminds me of the unlucky Pasquale. 
You seem pasquale, the guy who's always in bad situations.
It reminds me of the troubled Pasquale

Insomma, secondo voi c'è un modo per tradurre "passaguai" con un solo termine o con un'espressione che renda meglio l'idea?

Grazie.


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## Tegs

Non esiste questo Pasquale da noi, quindi inutile fare riferimento a lui in inglese  Potresti riferire a Calamity Jane. 

The way he/ she talks, you'd think he/she was a real Calamity Jane. 
The way he/she talks, you'd think he/she was a walking disaster. 

Suonarebbe  forse un po' buffo usare la prima frase parlando di un uomo, visto che Calamity Jane è  una donna, ma potrebbe andare. Queste traduzioni danno l'idea che la persona che parla sempre dei guai esagera e che non è veramente così passaguai.


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## CynthiaC

Tegs said:


> Non esiste questo Pasquale da noi, quindi inutile fare riferimento a lui in inglese  Potresti riferire a Calamity Jane.
> 
> The way he/ she talks, you'd think he/she was a real Calamity Jane.
> The way he/she talks, you'd think he/she was a walking disaster.
> 
> Suonarebbe  forse un po' buffo usare la prima frase parlando di un uomo, visto che Calamity Jane è  una donna, ma potrebbe andare. Queste traduzioni danno l'idea che la persona che parla sempre dei guai esagera e che non è veramente così passaguai.




Thanks


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## theartichoke

There's also "Debbie Downer," which I've heard quite frequently but didn't realize until now (I looked it up) that it's from a Saturday Night Live skit. From what I can tell, the description of "una persona che parla solo di guai, di problemi e di altre cose negative che capitano sempre a lui/lei" fits Debbie Downer quite nicely. The expression also contains the idea that the problems are exaggerated, or at least obsessively and unnecessarily dwelt on, so you wouldn't have to use the circumlocutions needed for Calamity Jane. Rather, "he/she is such a Debbie Downer" or "don't be a Debbie Downer."


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## italtrav

We also have in AE the Gloomy Gus.


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## CynthiaC

theartichoke said:


> There's also "Debbie Downer," which I've heard quite frequently but didn't realize until now (I looked it up) that it's from a Saturday Night Live skit. From what I can tell, the description of "una persona che parla solo di guai, di problemi e di altre cose negative che capitano sempre a lui/lei" fits Debbie Downer quite nicely. The expression also contains the idea that the problems are exaggerated, or at least obsessively and unnecessarily dwelt on, so you wouldn't have to use the circumlocutions needed for Calamity Jane. Rather, "he/she is such a Debbie Downer" or "don't be a Debbie Downer."



Thanks, this is all very helpful.
I am translating a lot of neapolitan expressions in english on my facebook page...so I am afraid I will continue on needing your help people !



italtrav said:


> We also have in AE the Gloomy Gus.



Thanks, I didin't know this one


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## Tegs

I've never heard of Debbie Downer or Gloomy Gus, but they are completely understandable in British English too, so they would definitely fit better than the Calamity Jane phrase, which is a bit long really. 

I've heard people say "Negative Nelly" in the same way as Gloomy Gus - I'd forgotten about that one til now  He's such a Negative Nelly! (That one's used on The Simpsons)


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## MR1492

I had also forgotten about Debbie Downer.  However, the one I think most AE speakers would immediately recognize is Gloomy Gus.  It's part of the AE lexicon these days and would be instantly recognizable.

Phil


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## L'Enrico

theartichoke said:


> the description of "una persona che parla solo di guai, di problemi e di altre cose negative che capitano sempre a lui/lei" fits Debbie Downer quite nicely.



I thought a Debbie Downer was close to a party pooper. I didn't understand it to be specifically related to obsessive talks about one's misfortunes. Do I need to revise my understanding?

E.


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## theartichoke

L'Enrico said:


> I thought a Debbie Downer was close to a party pooper. I didn't understand it to be specifically related to obsessive talks about one's misfortunes. Do I need to revise my understanding?



Well, I confess that I was going mainly with the examples given here, which I assume are from dialogue taken directly from the skit (I could be wrong, Urban Dictionary being what it is): http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Debbie+Downer.  

However, a Debbie Downer (and a Gloomy Gus, for that matter) does make negative or pessimistic statements about the world in general as well as dwelling on their own misfortunes, so perhaps they're not identical to Pasquale Passaguai?


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