# Il bello



## Silvia

Ciao a tutti 

Vorrei un po' di brainstorming sulla parola bello come sostantivo.
Esempi:
E qui viene il bello!
Il bello è che, non solo non mi ha scritto, ma non mi ha neanche telefonato per circa 10 anni!
Il bello di andare in vacanza, è che non si lavora 
Chi si crede di essere? Il bello del paese?

Grazie a tutti anticipatamente


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## Elisa68

Potresti essere più precisa? Ti occorre la traduzione o altri esempi?
Nella seconda ipotesi ecco il mio contributo:
Bello di mamma!
Che fai di bello?


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## moodywop

Silvia said:
			
		

> Ciao a tutti
> 
> 1.E qui viene il bello!
> 2.Il bello è che, non solo non mi ha scritto, ma non mi ha neanche telefonato per circa 10 anni!
> 3.Il bello di andare in vacanza, è che non si lavora
> 4.Chi si crede di essere? Il bello del paese?


 
E' solo un tentativo - non crocifiggetemi 

1. Just listen to this... or....... now brace yourself..
2. And worst of all...
3. The great thing about...
4. Who does he think he is? God's gift to women?  ( I used to hear this in London all the time - *not* referred to me btw)


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## Silvia

LOL Carlo, great translations 

Comunque... ciò significherebbe che non esiste un corrispettivo del sostantivo maschile "bello" in inglese? Interessante


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## moodywop

Silvia said:
			
		

> LOL Carlo, great translations
> 
> Comunque... ciò significherebbe che non esiste un corrispettivo del sostantivo maschile "bello" in inglese? Interessante


 
Well there's "beau" as in "Mary's new beau" but it means boyfriend and it's dated. You would only use it jocularly.


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## Elisa68

Carlo, what about beauty as in "the beauty of life"? Although, it cannot be used for all the Italian meanings...


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## moodywop

Silvia said:
			
		

> LOL Carlo, great translations


 
I'm not going to feel safe until my translations have received the royal seal of approval from lsp and Panji


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## moodywop

Elisa68 said:
			
		

> Carlo, what about beauty as in "the beauty of life"? Although, it cannot be used for all the Italian meanings...


 
Sì, certo! Ma sai che non ci avevo proprio pensato?

_The beauty of being self-employed is that you're your own boss(and in Italy - that you save on income tax_   ).


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## Andre Balian

Silvia said:
			
		

> Comunque... ciò significherebbe che non esiste un corrispettivo del sostantivo maschile "bello" in inglese? Interessante



I think you _could _use an adjective as a noun in english in a similar context but usually wouldn't.

The LotR movies give a good example...

Where is my _precious...  _

But I don't think some one would say "my handsome" or "the handsome" without a noun following.

But there are some slang terms for handsome guy.  Hunk or stud perhaps.  
Stud is more rural word though.  It think it derives from the male horse.  Maybe from genital comparison.


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## Silvia

Andre Balian said:
			
		

> The LotR movies give a good example...


What?

What about Carlo's examples? I've never heard "the beauty of...", is it common?


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## TrentinaNE

Silvia said:
			
		

> What about Carlo's examples? I've never heard "the beauty of...", is it common?


Yes, the phrase _the beauty of (something) is_ is commonly used in AE. So are the other expressions Carlo listed, though I don't know enough Italian to say how well they correspond to your original list.

Elisabetta


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## Silvia

Thank you all


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## disegno

moodywop said:
			
		

> Sì, certo! Ma sai che non ci avevo proprio pensato?
> 
> _The beauty of being self-employed is that you're your own boss(and in Italy - that you save on income tax_   ).



Concordo con Elisabetta e Carlo. (un esempio perfetto Carlo, inoltre, io lavoro per conto mio è sono d'accordo con la frase!)

The beauty of having a car is that I don't have to take the bus.
The beauty of having children is that they do all the household chores.(Aspetta un minuto, questo sembra falso!   )

Gli altri esempi Carlo ha dato sono anche perfetti.


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## Andre Balian

I think beauty is usually a noun though.  Unless it is being used as an adjective.  ie: beauty pageant.

Otherwise it's _beautiful._ 



			
				Silvia said:
			
		

> I've never heard "the beauty of...", is it common?



It's actually quite common.  The most common way I've heard it used:
_
That's the beauty of it.
_


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## carrickp

moodywop said:
			
		

> E' solo un tentativo - non crocifiggetemi
> 
> 1. Just listen to this... or....... now brace yourself..
> 2. And worst of all...
> 3. The great thing about...
> 4. Who does he think he is? God's gift to women?  ( I used to hear this in London all the time - *not* referred to me btw)



It appears to me that usage No. 4 doesn't go with the other three. No. 4 is kind of like English (from French) "the belle of the ball" where the others boil down to "the significant thing," which, as moodywop eloquently points out, has dozens of equivalents in English.


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## Silvia

The belle of the ball... What if it's a man?


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## disegno

Silvia said:
			
		

> The belle of the ball... What if it's a man?



Yes traditionally a man can not be the belle of the ball, but then again times are changing. 

Chi si crede di essere? Il bello del paese? You might here...Who does he think he is? Cock of the walk? (a man who is too confident and thinks himself better than everyone else ...) (I hasten to add, cock refers to the best of my knowledge to a rooster!)


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## panjandrum

OK - I like moodywop's suggestions.
Some variations, and there are many:

1. "Wait 'til you hear this ...", 
"You'll never believe this ...", 
"Guess what ..."
(_Guess what_ is 5-year-old WMPG's favourite )

2. "The worst of it is ..."

3. Examples given here are fine. "The beauty of ..." sounds OK to me.

4. "Who does he think he is? God's gift!"
This works OK in the shorter form. 
It feels a bit of a cliche in full.
Others may feel it is over-used in any form - in spoken English the scathing tone of "Who does he think he is?" should be more than enough


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## carrickp

Silvia said:
			
		

> The belle of the ball... What if it's a man?



The English language assumes that if a man is at a ball he was dragged there and doesn't care what he looks like. This is in all the grammar books. If you didn't learn it in English class you must have been absent the day it was explained.


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## leenico

> Chi si crede di essere? Il bello del paese? You might here *hear*...Who does he think he is? Cock of the walk? (a man who is too confident and thinks himself better than everyone else ...) (I hasten to add, cock refers to the best of my knowledge to a rooster!)


Un piccolo errore.


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## moodywop

panjandrum said:
			
		

> OK - I like moodywop's suggestions.
> Some variations, and there are many:
> 
> 1. "Wait 'til you hear this ...",
> "You'll never believe this ...",
> "Guess what ..."
> (_Guess what_ is 5-year-old WMPG's favourite )
> 
> 2. "The worst of it is ..."
> 
> 3. Examples given here are fine. "The beauty of ..." sounds OK to me.


 
Panji

And I love _your _suggestions. Each single one triggers memories of Britain. _Guess what..._is my favourite one(trust me to share this preference with a 5-year-old ).
For 2. I think I've also heard _And what's worse(worst??)...._but I'm not sure.
For 3. I think you can also say _the nice thing about..._or _what's nice about...is..._

Carlo


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## disegno

leenico said:
			
		

> Un piccolo errore.



grazie...vedo che faccio typos in inglese e italiano!


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## panjandrum

moodywop said:
			
		

> _Guess what..._is my favourite one (trust me to share this preference with a 5-year-old ).


I wouldn't feel bad about that - she is an _extremely_ eloquent and articulate 5-year-old


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## HughW

Silvia said:
			
		

> Il bello è che, non solo non mi ha scritto, ma non mi ha neanche telefonato per circa 10 anni!


 
(my first posting!)

It surprises me that "Il bello è..." can be followed by a negative idea -translated in this thread as "the worst thing is...". Here is another example I found elsewhere: "il bello è che la situazione globale è un po' da piangere".

Is this sarcasm/irony, like when I say "Well that's just brilliant!" but in a tone of voice that shows I mean the opposite (because I am fed up, annoyed, frustrated)?

Hugh in Inghilterra


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## moodywop

HughW said:
			
		

> (my first posting!)
> 
> It surprises me that "Il bello è..." can be followed by a negative idea -translated in this thread as "the worst thing is...". Here is another example I found elsewhere: "il bello è che la situazione globale è un po' da piangere".
> 
> Is this sarcasm/irony, like when I say "Well that's just brilliant!" but in a tone of voice that shows I mean the opposite (because I am fed up, annoyed, frustrated)?
> 
> Hugh in Inghilterra


 
Hi Hugh, welcome to the Italian-English forum and Merry Christmas!

Yes I think it's just the same as with _brilliant. _I think you also use _great _in the same way, for example when you say _now isn't that just great? _after listing a series of things that have just gone wrong.

Carlo


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## ilbelloasia

I was wondering if this is correct: il bello Asia 
being that I want "the beautiful Asia" and it's a female?


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## GavinW

You are right to have doubts. The grammar is wrong. Asia is a feminine noun (l'Asia), so it should be "La bella Asia" or maybe "L'Asia bella". A native will no doubt confirm.


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## tericcia

GavinW said:


> You are right to have doubts. The grammar is wrong. Asia is a feminine noun (l'Asia), so it should be "La bella Asia" or maybe "L'Asia bella". A native will no doubt confirm.


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## lilywhite

here I am, a native! Sure it's "la bella Asia" or maybe "la meravigliosa Asia" ... all the continents are feminine in italian


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## ilbelloasia

thanks so much...I guess I better change my name too . What would that be pronounced in English? Curious because I wish I would have found this board earlier!


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