English translation of "per poco non mi sparò addosso" - "very nearly shot/fired at me/were on the verge of shooting at me/[whose shots/bullets] barely missed me"

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145 months ago

Barbara Cochran (a guest user) asked this question:

Language pair:	Italian > English
Subject:	Other
Level of diffculty:	Easy / medium
Word or term in question:	per poco non mi sparò addosso
Context:	Scesi le scale con la testa che mi scoppiava. Ma a mille miglia di distanza. Non feci...
Keywords:	...neanche attenzione alla guardia indiana che per poco non mi sparò addosso.

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Complete list of answers and comments

145 months ago

wrote:

(whose shots) nearly rained down on me

My comment:

luckily very nearly missed me; missed me by an inch

145 months ago

Josephine Cassar wrote:

(whose shots) nearly rained down on me

My comment:

luckily very nearly missed me; missed me by an inch

145 months ago

Josephine Cassar wrote:

very nearly shot/fired at me/were on the verge of shooting at me/[whose shots/bullets] barely missed me

My comment:

Depending on the context, it could mean that the guards either didn't shoot but almost did (most likely interpretation), or that they were shooting and barely missed hitting the narrator.
"per poco non" implies an element of chance; the narrator got lucky and wasn't shot by the skin of his teeth.

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