era troppo bello - What is the English translation? English translators help general English translators with the translation of era troppo bello

Conges terminology question

2 months ago

Barbara R. Cochran, MFA asked this question:

Language pair:	Italian > English
Subject:	General
Level of diffculty:	Easy / medium
Word or term in question:	era troppo bello
Context:	Ancora alla vigilia del primo viaggio di Cristoforo Colombo, il celebre, bellissimo Mappamondo di Fra Mauro disegnava l'Estremo Oriente sulla base delle descrizioni di quel libro, nonostante che, crollato l'impero mongolo, la geografia della Cina fosse completamente cambiata. L'Oriente di cui aveva parlato Marco Polo era troppo bello perché si potesse immaginare diverso. The usual translations for the phrase just don't seem to fill the bill.

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Answers on this question

2 months ago

Carlos Pablo MIGUES-LABANCA, BSc. wrote:

was so real/genuine/blunt(to the point), that it couldn't be imagined different

My comment:

---bello: schietto, vero, autentico---

Among other possibilities, "bello" can also mean the above. :o)

My references:

Dizionario italiano dei sinonimi.

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2 months ago

exegete wrote:

If the author had written "it LOOKED so authentic/sincere that it could not be imagined any different(ly)", I think your answer would be acceptable. Unfortunately, the author wrote: "it WAS so [whatever]". Besides, most synonyms are only PARTIAL synonyms, as you should know. So your answer seems a bit far-fetched. Last but not least, I have checked in three (3) online dictionaries of Italian synonyms and I have not been able to find "schietto", "vero", nor "autentico" as a synonym for "bello". See: https://sinonimi.it/bello/ https://sapere.virgilio.it/parole/sinonimi-e-contrari/bello https://www.sinonimi-contrari.it/bello Could you give the full reference of your paper dictionary of Italian synonyms? But, as I said, synonyms are usually not 100% synonyms, so why did the author not use a more explicit word?... Do you have a dictionary of DEFINITIONS that proves this very unusual definition of "bello"? --- By the way, your Traduguide online CV has links that do not exist any more. The general link for the university you say you graduated from is now: http://www.universidad.edu.uy/ But I cannot find any list of graduated people. Indeed, it is not clear whether you have a law degree, then some authority certified you as a sworn translator, based on an exam, or if you followed translation classes, which ones, for how long (how many hours), etc. Finally, referring to your Conges points in your online CV is fine, except that Askers do not always select the correct answer... I have noticed that on Proz.com and Translatorscafe.com. This is why I try to give full references of my search results. And to translate the full source sentence, to see if my translation of one of several words matches the full target sentence. "L'Oriente di cui aveva parlato Marco Polo ERA (o: sembrava?) troppo schietto/vero/autentico perché si potesse immaginare diverso." https://www.wordreference.com/iten/schietto

2 months ago

exegete wrote:

was too good [to be imagined differently]

My comment:

"L'Oriente di cui aveva parlato Marco Polo era troppo bello perché si potesse immaginare diverso.":

"The East of which Marco Polo had spoken was too good to be imagined differently."

derived from the expression: "was too good to be true".

This Italian sentence construction is described under c. at https://www.wordreference.com/iten/perch%C3%A9 :

"c. (consecutivo: cosicché):

l'ostacolo ***era troppo alto perché si potesse*** scavalcarlo:

the obstacle ***was too high to*** climb over

***è troppo forte perché si possa*** vincerlo:

he ***is too strong to be*** beaten (o: for anyone to beat him)"

---
The standard expression is: "it's too **good** to be true" : "è troppo **bello** per essere vero"

at https://www.wordreference.com/enit/too%20good%20to%20be%20true

Derived expressions: "too good to" are translated by "troppo bello per":

https://context.reverso.net/translation/english-italian/too+good+to :

"You agreed that clip ***was too good to trash***.

Anche per te quel video ***era troppo bello per non postarlo***."

"I look ***too good to be sick***.

Sono ***troppo bello per sembrare malato***."

"Then we saw ***an opportunity too good to miss***.

Poi vedemmo ***un'opportunità troppo bella per lasciarcela sfuggire***."

--------
"Ancora alla vigilia del primo viaggio di Cristoforo Colombo, il celebre, bellissimo Mappamondo di Fra Mauro disegnava l'Estremo Oriente sulla base delle descrizioni di quel libro, nonostante che, crollato l'impero mongolo, la geografia della Cina fosse completamente cambiata." :

"Still on the eve of Christopher Columbus's first voyage, Fra Mauro's famous and beautiful World Map represented the Far East based on that book's descriptions [= Marco Pollo's book on the Far East*], even though, after the collapse of the Mongol empire, the geography of China was completely changed."

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo :

"His travels are recorded in Livre des merveilles du monde (Book of ***the Marvels of the World***, also known as The Travels of Marco Polo, c. 1300), a book that described to Europeans ***the wealth and great size of China***, its capital Peking, and ***other Asian cities and countries***. "

======================

=> it's sort of wishful thinking:

they did not want to imagine the Far East differently than the way Marco Pollo (and his ghost writer) had so beautifully described it.

===============

In fact, Marco Pollo had dictated his story to "a professional writer of romances", who embellished somewhat his account, although "the idea probably was to create a handbook for merchants, essentially a text on weights, measures and distances"!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo#Role_of_Rustichello

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo#Travels_of_Marco_Polo

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Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

2 months ago

exegete wrote:

or: "was too fine-looking [to be imagined differently]" for the double meaning of "fine": 1.3. "Good-looking, attractive" 1.2. "acceptable, adequate, (...) or satisfactory" at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fine#Adjective which means that: it looked so attractive and acceptable that it could not be imagined any different(ly). --- Indeed, if the author had wanted to say "authentic" or "sincere", he would have written a more explicit adjective in Italian, I believe.

2 months ago

Josephine Cassar wrote:

was even better than what we had imagined/thought/had been predicted

My comment:

If the literal does not fit, maybe like this. Not always possible to post references for literary translations but all are very much used.

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2 months ago

plaisirsdelavie wrote:

Yes. Or "was mind-boggling". But I'm not sure that this phrase was in use when the text about Marco Polo was written. The interpretation "to good (to be true) is derogatory and suggest hat M. P. was lying in his description of the far east, which is not the case here.

2 months ago

Josephine Cassar wrote:

I didn't suggest 'too good to be true' but even then, that expression means that it had been exaggerated and, therefore, too much, not not true in the sense of lying-just as in French

2 months ago

plaisirsdelavie wrote:

What I meant is that your interpretation is right, contrary to the the other interpretation(s) "to good to be true".

2 months ago

Charles Ferguson wrote:

Was too good to be true

My comment:

Compare the French: trop beau pour etre vrai.

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