# Mi sono fatto 5 piani a piedi



## janko

How would you translate "farsi 5 piani (a piedi)" / "mi sono fatto 5 piani a piedi" ?
Thank you 

Regards,

Marco


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## Murphy

In discesa o in salita? Comunque, facci vedere prima il tuo tentativo e poi potremo fare dei suggerimenti.


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## infinite sadness

I got up five floors on foot.


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## shardaneng

"I('ve) climbed five floors on foot"


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## giovannino

What about "I walked up five flights of stairs"?


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## Alxmrphi

giovannino said:


> What about "I walked up five flights of stairs"?


Purrr-fect


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## rrose17

giovannino said:


> What about "I walked up five flights of stairs"?


 
Also simply _I went up 5 flights of stairs on foot_. Although this might make you wonder how else could you have done this...
@Infinite I think you could say _you got up 5 flights *of stairs*_ even though went up sounds better. You really can't say_ get up 5 floors_.I don't think it would be understood what you meant.


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## Murphy

Could it ever mean (however unlikely) "I walked *down* five floors"? Or would you specify "in discesa"?


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## Odysseus54

Alxmrphi said:


> Purrr-fect




Utterly, hopelessly wrong 

Floors are separated by 2 flights of stairs, guys.

"I walked up/down five floors" - "on foot" and such is redundant.


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## rrose17

Umm I realize Florida is not always the same as other places, alligators and retired folks, but where I live there is only one flight of stairs between floors.


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## Alxmrphi

rrose17 said:


> Umm I realize Florida is not always the same as other places, alligators and retired folks, but where I live there is only one flight of stairs between floors.



Same in UK.

Even where there is a bit of a landing, that doesn't count as it's own 'flight' reflected in common usage.
If there are 7 floors and I'm on the 2nd floor, and my friend is on the 4th, I would walk up 2 flights of stairs (= 2 floors) to see them.


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## Odysseus54

rrose17 said:


> Umm I realize Florida is not always the same as other places, alligators and retired folks, but where I live there is only one flight of stairs between floors.




You have 20-24 stairs per flight ?  In multi-story buildings ? Amazing - you must be allocating a lot of room to your stairwells up there.

In Italy as well as in the US, multi-story buildings have 2 flights of stairs per floor, 10-12 steps per flight.  Townhomes and mansions may be different, but then we wouldn't be talking about five floors, would we ?

Besides, don't make fun of alligators - we also have sharks and cockroaches, you know ..


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## Odysseus54

Alxmrphi said:


> Same in UK.
> 
> Even where there is a bit of a landing, that doesn't count as it's own 'flight' reflected in common usage.
> If there are 7 floors and I'm on the 2nd floor, and my friend is on the 4th, I would walk up 2 flights of stairs (= 2 floors) to see them.



Sure ?  Architecturally, a "flight of stairs" is the set of stairs that connects two landings, isn't it ?


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## Alxmrphi

Odysseus54 said:


> Sure ?  Architecturally, a "flight of stairs" is the set of stairs that connects two landings, isn't it ?



I _knew_ you'd say "architecturally" .
That's why I made sure to add 'reflecting common usage' in my post.

The connecting of 2 floors would be considered one flight of stairs where I am from, probably the ignorant view, but the ignorant view of the masses.


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## RICCARDOS

Alxmrphi said:


> Same in UK.
> 
> Even where there is a bit of a landing, that doesn't count as it's own 'flight' reflected in common usage.
> If there are 7 floors and I'm on the 2nd floor, and my friend is on the 4th, I would walk up 2 flights of stairs (= 2 floors) to see them.


 
Definitely no intention to be argumentative here; but, technically, in AE a "flight" of stairs is defined as "an uninterrupted series of steps between floors and/or landings". So, technically, there could be two or more flights between floors depending on whether there is one or more landings between.


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## Alxmrphi

RICCARDOS said:


> Definitely no intention to be argumentative here; but, technically, in AE a "flight" of stairs is defined as "an uninterrupted series of steps between floors and/or landings". So, technically, there could be two or more flights between floors depending on whether there is one or more landings between.



Of course, I in absolutely no way shape or form even hinted at the idea that this could not be the meaning.
People who understand this 'technical' definition are right, but the reflected usage of the people isn't always the same as what is technically the answer, as is the case in the usage I am familiar with, that's all I was saying


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## Odysseus54

Alxmrphi said:


> I knew you'd say "architecturally" .
> That's why I made sure to add 'reflecting common usage' in my post.



I was trying to be nice 

How do you define a "flight of stairs" ?


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## Alxmrphi

Odysseus54 said:


> I was trying to be nice
> How do you define a "flight of stairs" ?



The set of steps / stairs that connects one level of a building to the next.
Of course I (now) know the technical definition, but I wouldn't say this distinction is made by anywhere near the majority of English speakers.


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## rrose17

Alxmrphi said:


> The set of steps / stairs that connects one level of a building to the next.


 Anch'io. With or without a landing.


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## Odysseus54

Alxmrphi said:


> The set of steps / stairs that connects one level of a building to the next.



So you are denying that it means "an uninterrupted series of steps between floors and/or landings", right ?

I am not trying to pick nits here, but in common usage , this side of the pond, a "flight of stairs" is exactly what Ricardo says it is, "an uninterrupted series of steps between floors and/or landings".

If you say that in your usage it is the set of steps that connects one level of a building to the next, we have a real difference.  A big one.  We would not be able to work off the same set of blueprints without an interpreter.

Is it AE vs BE, that is growing majority vs dwindling minority  , or is it something else ?


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## Alxmrphi

> So you are denying that it means "an uninterrupted series of steps between floors and/or landings", right ?


I'm not _denying _anything, I'm just responding to your question which asked me how _I_ would define it.


> We would not be able to work off the same set of blueprints without an interpreter.


We have many differences like this that exist between BE and AE though. For example _ground floor_ in England is the_ first floor _in America, the_ first floor_ in England is the _second floor_ in America.
So communications between builders / architects working off blueprints would differ in other respects than the exact specifications of a flight of stairs. The architects planning the building could arrange to meet at 10am on the first floor and just be waiting for each other for hours when the other one is only a few feet above/below the other!

Have a look here, or here.


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## RICCARDOS

Alxmrphi said:


> I _knew_ you'd say "architecturally" .
> That's why I made sure to add 'reflecting common usage' in my post.
> 
> The connecting of 2 floors would be considered one flight of stairs where I am from, probably the ignorant view, but the ignorant *view of the masses*.


 
Sono d'accordo! In the end, I always side with the "view of the masses" because we all know how much trouble being "technically correct" but "practically wrong" can get us into.


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## Odysseus54

Alxmrphi said:


> I'm not _denying _anything, I'm just responding to your question which asked me how _I_ would define it.



So you are denying it - nothing wrong with denying, I deny things a lot myself 

My question - my curiosity, if you wish - is if this is a real AE vs BE difference, or if I am wrong, perhaps.

The list that you pointed me to ( Thanks, by the way ) , is interesting, but it does not include "flight of stairs" - so it's inconclusive, as far as I am concerned.

Ricardo's definition is from the MW - is that wrong ?  Is it AE ?

That's what I'd like to understand.

In practical terms :  does this question have any sense for you ?


" How many flights of stairs do you have between floors , one or two ? "


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## giovannino

MW does indeed define a "flight of stairs" as "a continuous series of stairs from one landing or floor to another". British dictionaries, however, seem to dispense with the adjective "continuous":

a series of steps between two floors  (Oxford)

a set of steps or stairs, usually between two floors of a building (Cambridge)

 a set of stairs between one floor and the next (Longman)

So maybe there is a BE/AE difference.


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## King Crimson

giovannino said:


> MW does indeed define a "flight of stairs" as "a continuous series of stairs from one landing or floor to another". British dictionaries, however, seem to dispense with the adjective "continuous":
> 
> a series of steps between two floors (Oxford)
> 
> a set of steps or stairs, usually between two floors of a building (Cambridge)
> 
> a set of stairs between one floor and the next (Longman)
> 
> So maybe there is a BE/AE difference.


 
And to complement the above, the American Heritage Dictionary too defines a flight as a "A series of stairs rising from *one landing* to another", thus supporting the view that this may be a AE/BE thing.


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## london calling

rrose17 said:


> Anch'io. With or without a landing.


To me a flight of stairs connects either two floors or a floor and a landing.

Therefore, if there is a landing between floors there are two flights of stairs between the floors.

Am I complicating matters?


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## Scopa Nuova

Ciao Tutti,

Anytime I want to see a good debate I can find it on the English-Italian Forum. 

I did a quick search on the internet and found both definitions used here (in the US). Best we can say in AE usage, in my opinion, is that it's ambiguous. A flight of stairs is is defined a a set of stairs between floors or landings. So it's the old argument, " how many Angels on the head of a pin". Maybe you need to look at the context to determine what someone means. I usually like exact definitions but I don't think there is one here.

So, unless you just want to pratice language, any further debate is a just so much talk. Use whatever you want. Just explain what you mean, if necessary.


Go Figure

SN


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## giovannino

london calling said:


> Am I complicating matters?


 
No, Jo, you just blew our AE/BE hypothesis sky-high

EDIT: SN makes a very good point!


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## RICCARDOS

giovannino said:


> MW does indeed define a "flight of stairs" as "a continuous series of stairs from one landing or floor to another". British dictionaries, however, seem to dispense with the adjective "continuous":
> 
> a series of steps between two floors (Oxford)
> 
> a set of steps or stairs, usually between two floors of a building (Cambridge)
> 
> a set of stairs between one floor and the next (Longman)
> 
> So maybe there is a BE/AE difference.


 
Respectfully, I suggest that the difference is probably more technical than lingual. 

I think most AE speakers, like (apparently) BE speakers would consider the stairs between floors as a flight - regardless if there was a landing between or not. As an architect, I make a distinction - as would Odysseus (who obviously is familair with architectural termonology) - simply because there is a distinction and it does make a difference in communications between construction professionals.

Clearly, the distincton that is important among technicians is not - nor does it necessairly need to be - important to others.

I am also an engineer and run into these same kinds of distinctions from an engineering point of view - a lot!


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## Odysseus54

Perhaps the reason why I am insisting is that "flight of stairs" in my mind matches exactly the Italian "rampa di scale" - this equivalence is also confirmed by my experience in the building trade, where a flight is a continuous set of stairs between two landings or floors.  

Also, I just asked mah wahf, an' she agrees.


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## Scopa Nuova

RICCARDOS said:


> Respectfully, I suggest that the difference is probably more technical than lingual.
> 
> I think most AE speakers, like (apparently) BE speakers would consider the stairs between floors as a flight - regardless if there was a landing between or not. As an architect, I make a distinction - as would Odysseus (who obviously is familair with architectural termonology) - simply because there is a distinction and it does make a difference in communications between construction professionals.
> 
> Clearly, the distincton that is important among technicians is not - nor does it necessairly need to be - important to others.
> 
> I am also an engineer and run into these same kinds of distinctions from an engineering point of view - a lot!


 

Ciao Riccardos,

I am an Engineer also, and the usual pratice is to define these terms in the contract, certainly if there is any doubt on the definition. The contract definition may or may not be th same as common usage. But that doesn't matter; it's defined and not open for debate.

Comon usage on the other hand is not always so common. For example in western united states a "dogie or dogy" is a stray calf. In the rest of the U.S. a doggy is a house pet. It's context, context, context.

SN


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## SONOUNANGELO

Ciao a tutti!
I never would have thought a flight of stairs, or a number of them,
would make for such an entertaining "dibattito"!

Take a look at this/Guardi qui:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_steps_are_in_a_flight_of_stairs

PS: I vote for the uninterrupted version.


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## Scopa Nuova

SONOUNANGELO said:


> Ciao a tutti!
> I never would have thought a flight of stairs, or a number of them,
> would make for such an entertaining "dibattito"!
> 
> Take a look at this/Guardi qui:
> 
> http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_steps_are_in_a_flight_of_stairs
> 
> PS: I vote for the uninterrupted version.


 

Ciao Sonouangelo,

Mi piace che noi possiamo te intrattenere. Fa un salto qualsiasi momento per una risata grassa!

SN


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## Einstein

I've just found this thread, so I'll give my two eurocents' worth.
I'm British and it's never occurred to me that a flight of stairs was anything but what the Italians call "rampa di scale". There can be one or two to connect floors (I've also seen three).

Alxmrphi says:


> The connecting of 2 floors would be considered one flight of stairs where I am from, probably the ignorant view, but the ignorant *view of the masses*.


I don't think you can be so categorical about what people say "where you are from". It's not an expression that's used every day in conversation and personal experience is quite limited. Have you really asked all your friends and passers-by in the street what they understand by "flight of stairs"? And if a friend says "I fell down a flight of stairs", do you really question him, asking whether he means the whole distance or half the distance between two floors?
We often picture something in our own minds, without even considering that other people might see it differently.
I've stated my own understanding of "flight", but a question arises: If a flight is the total number of stairs between two floors, how do we say "rampa di scale" in English?


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## Scopa Nuova

Alxmrphi said:


> I'm not _denying _anything, I'm just responding to your question which asked me how _I_ would define it.
> We have many differences like this that exist between BE and AE though. For example _ground floor_ in England is the_ first floor _in America, the_ first floor_ in England is the _second floor_ in America.
> So communications between builders / architects working off blueprints would differ in other respects than the exact specifications of a flight of stairs. The architects planning the building could arrange to meet at 10am on the first floor and just be waiting for each other for hours when the other one is only a few feet above/below the other!
> 
> Have a look here, or here.


 

Good morning Alxmrphi (at least it's stil morning here),

Well, I hate to stick a pin in your balloon but your list of British names versus American names isn't very accurate. For example:

1. The ground floor/first floor, first floor/second floor example is only true maybe 50% of the time. I am sure I can find as many cases where we say it "your way" as there are saying it "our way" in the U.S.
2. Same thing with "flat" and "appartment" although we probably tend more toward apartment. Flat is used mainly in the Norhteast and mid west parts of the U.S.
3. Accelerator/gas pedal is another one. Gas pedal is probably more frequently used but accelertor is also used frequently.
4. Hand brake/emergency brake. The label on this brake in american cars is "Handbrake" althought some poeple call it an emergency brake.
5. Mudguard/splash guard. Many people here call them mudguards.

Without going through the entire list let me say that there are many more instances were we use the identical terninology in both countries. The separation in the Churchill statement," the U.S. and Great Brittain are two great countries separated by a common languge is fading away.

British actors are frequently showing up in American movies. BBC radio has been heard here for 50-60 years. BBC TV has increased its exposure here in the last 30 or so years. Everybody in all nations is getting more exposure to each other. The wide available of American TV and Movies has a strong impact on language. In effect the world is migrating more and more to a common language..

Although your list contains many actual differences, some of them are no longer true. I supect the differences will grow smaller and smaller as time goes by.

The nastalgia of differences between contries is fading. What country doesn't have a McDonald's Hamberger. We even have the Austrailian Out Back resturant chain here. We're getting so much alike it's scary!!!

SN


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## Einstein

I see that the WR Dictionary says that a _flight of stairs_ is a _rampa di scale_, while in this thread the term seems to be used with both meanings but without any dispute arising! I think this shows that if we're not discussing in a clear architectural or engineering context we each picture a flight of stairs in our own way and it doesn't usually create problems.


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## pattyfashiion

flight of stairs/steps: rampa di scale


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## Odysseus54

Einstein said:


> I see that the WR Dictionary says that a _flight of stairs_ is a _rampa di scale_, while in this thread the term seems to be used with both meanings but without any dispute arising! I think this shows that if we're not discussing in a clear architectural or engineering context we each picture a flight of stairs in our own way and it doesn't usually create problems.



The thread you are pointing to is inconclusive.   "Flight of stairs" appears just in one post ( #2 ) , as a synonym for "staircase" ( the set of stairs that connects all floors in a building ) - nobody reacted to that for a form of linguistic apathy, I guess .   

But does appeasement make "flight of stairs" also mean "staircase" now ?

Let's say that we are talking about a building where we both know that the stairs connecting the floors are two continuous sets separated by a landing ( a very common configuration ).

If I say " The elevator was down - I had to walk 20 flights of stairs to get to Julia's place".

What floor do you understand that Julia lives on ?  The 10th, the 20th or both ?


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## Murphy

*My* initial understanding would be that she lived on the 20th floor, but then I'm not an architect.  You would have to put me right, or just milk the sympathy


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## Einstein

Odysseus54 said:


> The thread you are pointing to is inconclusive. "Flight of stairs" appears just in one post ( #2 ) , as a synonym for "staircase" ( the set of stairs that connects all floors in a building ) - nobody reacted to that for a form of linguistic apathy, I guess .
> 
> But does appeasement make "flight of stairs" also mean "staircase" now ?
> 
> Let's say that we are talking about a building where we both know that the stairs connecting the floors are two continuous sets separated by a landing ( a very common configuration ).
> 
> If I say " The elevator was down - I had to walk 20 flights of stairs to get to Julia's place".
> 
> What floor do you understand that Julia lives on ? The 10th, the 20th or both ?


Well, my point wasn't to justify vagueness but to say we mustn't be too categorical about what those around us think, because without detailed investigation we probably don't really know their opinions.

Personally I would specify the distance climbed in floors rather than flights (the number of corners turned is not relevant):
"I had to walk up 10 floors".
However, in order not to be evasive I'll say that if someone talked to me about 20 flights of stairs I'd understand it as 10 floors.


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## Odysseus54

If that's the case, then, we would need to conclude that the correspondence between "rampa" and "flight" is, in common use at least, not biunivocal, and that the term "flight of stairs" is in itself ambiguous.


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## Einstein

Odysseus54 said:


> If that's the case, then, we would need to conclude that the correspondence between "rampa" and "flight" is, in common use at least, not biunivocal, and that the term "flight of stairs" is in itself ambiguous.


As I said earlier:


> If a flight is the total number of stairs between two floors, how do we say "rampa di scale" in English?


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## RICCARDOS

Odysseus54 said:


> The thread you are pointing to is inconclusive. "Flight of stairs" appears just in one post ( #2 ) , as a synonym for "staircase" ( the set of stairs that connects all floors in a building ) - nobody reacted to that for a form of linguistic apathy, I guess .
> 
> But does appeasement make "flight of stairs" also mean "staircase" now ?
> 
> Let's say that we are talking about a building where we both know that the stairs connecting the floors are two continuous sets separated by a landing ( a very common configuration ).
> 
> If I say " The elevator was down - I had to walk 20 flights of stairs to get to Julia's place".
> 
> What floor do you understand that Julia lives on ? The 10th, the 20th or both ?


 
Not to confuse things - this does relate to the previous comment that "we each picture a flight of stairs in our own way and it doesn't usually create problems."

As an AE speaker who thinks in AE context (i.e., *that the ground floor of a building is the "1st floor")* I would have to respond to Odysseus' question with the answer that Julia lives neither on the 10th nor the 20th floor - she lives on the 11th floor.

For those who think of it as 2 flights (with landing) between floors, from the ground/1st floor it takes 18 "flights" to reach the 10th floor - 20 "flights" to reach the 11th floor. Likewise, for those who think of it as 1 "flight" (including landing) between floors, from the ground/1st floor it takes 9 "flights" to reach the 10th floor - 10 "flights" to reach the 11th floor.

So, as einstein (and others) here suggest, context is as critical as are the linguistics.


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## SONOUNANGELO

> Scopa Nuova said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ciao Sonouangelo,
> 
> Mi piace che noi possiamo te intrattenere. Fa un salto qualsiasi momento per una risata grassa!
> 
> SN
Click to expand...

 
Thank you, SN! I didn't know the expression "risata grassa", and I think it's quite funny. (Sorry for digressing)

And now, going back to *"mi sono fatto 5 piani a piedi",* and if piano in this case is floor...

"I went up 5 floors."
"I went up the 5 floors." (?)
"I walked up 5 floors."
"I walked up the 5 floors."(?)
( or down)

Do we agree, or not?
Siamo o non siamo d'accordo?

(Poor Janko /Marco must be having fits  after all these "flights")


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## Einstein

"I went up 5 floors."
"I went up the 5 floors." (?)
Escludo questi due perché il verbo "go" ammette anche l'uso dell'ascensore
*"I walked up 5 floors."*

"I walked up the 5 floors."(?)
Non con l'articolo. Se ci sono solo 5 floors si può dire "I walked up all 5 floors". Possibile anche: "I walked up the five floors from Susan's to my mother's apartment".


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## CaruraLeam

"Flight of stairs" is "rampa di scale" and I do not ever say in Italian "Mi sono fatta 4 rampe di scale a piedi" per intendere "Mi sono fatta 4 piani a piedi".Sono due cose distinte e separate!
So...I went up 5 floors on foot!Or I walked up 5 floors!Isn't it easier,is it?


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## Pratolini

I would say:
I managed four floors on foot.

I think that "farsi" here has the sense of an accomplishment and the person saying it is being a little self-congratulatory or even boasting.


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## Scopa Nuova

Einstein said:


> Well, my point wasn't to justify vagueness but to say we mustn't be too categorical about what those around us think, because without detailed investigation we probably don't really know their opinions.
> 
> Personally I would specify the distance climbed in floors rather than flights (the number of corners turned is not relevant):
> "I had to walk up 10 floors".
> However, in order not to be evasive I'll say that if someone talked to me about 20 flights of stairs I'd understand it as 10 floors.


 

Einstein, 

I believe you hit the nail directly on the head. Since a flight seems to be both personal and ambiguous let's use floors instead. Since it's only the number of floors I believe there is no disagreement on how to count the number of floors. If you're going to refer to a specific floor then we face a similar problem because of the thee variable designaton of "ground floor", "first floor", and "second floor". However, using floors one would be off by a maximum of 1 floor. I vote for floors. But of course My vote counts for nothing.

SN


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## Lorena1970

And what about the proper number of "flight of stairs" if it is a helical (not sure it is the right word, I mean "elicoidale") staircase...? BEWARE: I am kidding! I had fun reading the thread and found it interesting.
Good night!


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## neuromatico

It's a "spiral" staircase, Lorena.

I'm not going to jump into the fray, but as mine is the 50th post and it appears everyone has expressed an opinion, I think it's time to put this discussion to bed.


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