English translation of "dovrebbero comunicare il fuoco alla benzina" - "Shouldn't add fuel to the fire."

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136 months ago

Barbara R. Cochran (a guest user) asked this question:

Language pair:	Italian > English
Subject:	General
Level of diffculty:	Easy / medium
Word or term in question:	dovrebbero comunicare il fuoco alla benzina
Context:	Significativo in questo senso il brano di una lettera alla madre spesso citato nelle raccolte che abbiamo esaminato: "...le pallottole con scia luminosa che adoperiamo non dovrebbero comunicare il fuoco alla benzina.

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Complete list of answers and comments

136 months ago

wrote:

should not light the fuse

136 months ago

Josephine Cassar wrote:

shouldn't provide the spark

My comment:

set off the fire-that is the sense- just one spark and war ensues, probably spark is not in the literal sense but figurative (the last straw literally)

136 months ago

Manuela Lamacchia wrote:

Shouldn't add fuel to the fire.

Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

136 months ago

wrote:

I am not a specialist of Italian, but I do understand the meaning of the original text. Your translation suggests that the fire has already started. Now it's what they want to avoid.

136 months ago

Manuela Lamacchia wrote:

The idiom "add fuel to the fire" isn't intended as a literal reversed translation . In this case, it stands for ' provoke', spark', 'ignite' , among others.

136 months ago

Manuela Lamacchia wrote:

I know, but with all due respect, it's not a very happy choice in view of the context. There are translations which are suitable in 90% of cases and don't work for the other 10%: I was often confronted with the problem during my career as an English teacher.

136 months ago

Manuela Lamacchia wrote:

Duly noted. How would you translate it?

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