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- "Siamo uomini o avvocati?"
194 Comments
1625
I'm a retired lawyer. One of the things I really am disappointed in is that it has been 30 years since I heard a good new lawyer joke.
Exactly. There are no new lawyer jokes. And lawyers have heard every one of them a thousand times. The funny thing is, that when someone gets in a jam and needs a lawyer, he always stops laughing and asking for a good referral.
there's gotta be at least one staff member at duolingo who thought to put "are we human or are we dancer[s]" as one of these sentences hahaha
I know this is Italian, not Spanish but I remember hearing a story about a kid who was bilingual in both English and Spanish because their babysitter was Spanish, and so would sometimes mix up the languages without realizing. Apparently one day they started shouting "I want an avocado!" which, in Spanish, like Italian, sounds like the word for "lawyer". So basically just imagine a little five year old kid screaming "I want a lawyer!" at the babysitter lmfao
the word avocado actually derives from a Nahuatl Indian word that means testicle
BorisChenn: Hm, kinda makes you think twice about ordering guacamole.
- 1625
"Fruit of the testicle tree" is how I first heard it. There is some folk-lore about avacados and young women. Not ribald or racy or anything like that, but that the Aztecs didn't allow their maidens to go near the trees, something like that.
It would be an excellent excuse: Young lady becomes in a family way, and when the father demands to know who the father is - she points to the avocado tree next door, and confesses that she picked some avocados to give to her boyfriend, who had not ever laid a hand on her.
That's also known as being hoist by your own petard. What's a dad to do when the poor girl gives a perfectly sensible and innocent explanation for her physical changes.
I was once at an Italian restaurant in France that offered "salad with lawyer". They meant avocado.
mamamot I'm not sure why, but I laughed so hard I cried. Have a lingot.
I give a ligot too for the most stupedest sentence yet in English, Spanish or Italian
not fair. just last week , I saw a lawyer put his hand in his own pocket!
- 642
Jokes are not a privilege of certain groups. Everybody is allowed to make them, so there's no need to retreat into your identities. :)
Please don't insult them like that. Vampires have feelings too, you know.
- 1625
Personally disappointing that Harper Lee would do that to such a beloved figure in American literature and film. I haven't read the new book, because I don't want to be disappointed in Atticus Finch. I hope that the revelation about his bigotry is simply a look into his mind, not into his actions.
Still, your post raises an interesting point, one which is very current right now in American politics: Inherent in our constitution is the idea that one cannot judge professional conduct by personal political beliefs. (This has limits - no neo-Nazi's in the Justice Department is a good idea.) In particular, Trump is saying that anyone associated with the Democratic Party or who has Hispanic heritage cannot be involved in any legal proceedings about him, because they are biased.
If Atticus Finch disliked Trump, should Finch be allowed to either prosecute or defend Trump? Based on To Kill a Mockingbird, I'd say yes. Finch is a professional. His personal feelings don't enter into how he does his job. That's they way all good lawyers function.
A factoid in illustration: the Fred Phelps clan out of Wichita, Kansas, is an evil group of people who picket the funerals of fallen soldiers and protest against people like Bishop Desmond Tutu, saying things like "God hates fags [a derogatory term for gay people]!" They are a nasty lot who twist the Bible far beyond even the worst distortions wrought by many a white Evangelical Christian. To apply an assessment by Obi-Wan Kenobe: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
But - and this is a big but - the Phelps family has many lawyers in it, some of whom have specialized in civil rights litigation (which explains why nobody ever sues them for their nasty behavior). They have represented a goodly number of the down-trodden of this earth who have been subjected to some of the worst discrimination to be found in America - racial, disability-related, and others - and they have won. If the Phelps lawyers come after you because of some act of discrimination, you want to settle that case as soon as possible. They are fighters who really know what they are doing in a court-room.
So too with Atticus Finch. Does it really matter if he's a racist and a bigot, if he can do what he did in To Kill a Mockingbird ? You are who you pretend to be.
Duo's sentence can actually have a meaning obverse to what everyone is saying. Are you a man, full of mortal weakness, venality, greed, lust, envy, pride - or are you a lawyer, a defender of the rule of law, of ethical behavior, whatever failings you might have as a human?
Plus one lingot for the most thoughtful comment I've seen on Duolingo; minus one lingot for totally distracting me from what I'm here for.
The new book was actually the first version of the old book, before the publisher told her to rewrite it with a focus on Scout's childhood. So Harper Lee didn't do anything to him; people just dug up and publicized how she'd written him all along.
I think that the two books go well together, and Go Set a Watchman, although written first, should be read second. As a child, Scout idolized her father; as an adult, she can see his flaws. He's not the same Atticus Finch as the one that you know and love from To Kill a Mockingbird, because he doesn't live up to the ideals that he raised Scout with. The new book is about how Scout learns to deal with this.
Now go and look up what the phrase "proves the rule" means in that sentence. A good lawyer would never make such a mistake in logic.
I thought It was saying that the moral values of men and lawyers were different , like what they do and stand for. I don't necessarily think it was talking about there state of being or sex but once you become a lawyer you change as a person. Ex: becoming a criminal ,join the military, becoming Buddhas. But if one has to decide between man and lawyer I would think, giving they way media betrays lawyers it would be a bad thing, as a saying or joke.
Thank goodness, someone on Duolingo with a brain who can actually read into things beyond face value.
- 1625
Do you not mean: "the way media portrays lawyers" rather than "they way media betrays lawyers"
considering how the media portrays them then yes, they are betrayed by the media
- 1625
Sometimes you need a shark on your team. If I were being hassled by the Trump administration, I'd want the best damn shark I could find.
Yeah, like 12 angry men! (dodici uomini arrabiati) altamente raccomandato!
I don't know, but I do know the following joke.
A mother and her young son walking through a cemetery passed by a headstone inscribed: "Here lies a lawyer and an honest man." The little boy read the headstone, looked up at his mother, and asked: "Mommy, why did they bury two men there?"
- 586
Bruciare! That was witty. Lingot for you.
Shakespeare was right... see Henry IV, part 2.
If you actually READ the play, you find that the line is uttered by Jack the Butcher, who is both a nihilist and an anarchist. William Shakespeare wrote that line uttered by a villain. He fully understood the value of the legal profession (professional advocates) You are culturally illiterate and historically ignorant. Goodbye.
Grr, every time I want to make a joke, someone already made it years ago.
- 398
I hope this doesn't count as clutter, but I've just got to say, I appreciate the real answers that are usually so helpful, but I LOVE the snarky responses. (My husband says my tombstone is going to say "she couldn't resist the cheap joke," and it's true!) Thanks, all!
tpamm: I couldn't agree more. While the grammatical comments are really helpful, to be honest it's the 'snarky' posts as you call them that keep me coming back. I've been guilty of a few myself I'm sure.
An excellent question. Assuming that the two are mutually exclusive it will be a hard decision that I cannot help make.
- 110
Mutually exclusive, eh...such as "military intelligence" or "customer service" perhaps....lol
On first glance, I thought it said "...avocados." We were buying ducks in the clothing portion, so it wouldn't surprise me to see food in the occupation lesson.
No, we are are actually female lawyers. Now we have solved that one let's go back into the courtroom.
Yes, one of life's nagging questions that has kept men awake many a night!
[QUESTION]
Can we translate "avvocati" to be "advocates"? I answered like that, and Duolingo marked it wrong. :(
The words in English are certainly related, but lawyer (or barrister or solicitor in non-American variants) is the better choice. Lawyers are all advocates in the sense that they explicitly work for the interests of one party, but not all advocates are lawyers.
- 760
Yes, in general - though now wigs are only worn in criminal cases in the higher courts. Solicitors when appearing in these may also choose to wear a wig.
I don't think it translates that way, but that's how I have remembered what "avvocati" means...since a lawyer should be an advocate for their client.
Yes. Lawyers are advocates for their clients, we hope, but a social worker can be an advocate for a client, a teacher can be an advocate for a student, etc.
I love the way you marked your question in this silly chat! Have a lingot!
Aside from the oddness of the question, it seems Duolingo does not accept British English when translating Italian into English .I used barristers for avvocati and it was marked wrong, but that word is in the Collins English -Italian dictionary as British English for avvocati.
I've reported similar things before (the one I recall is suggesting bit for po' and at least a few have been updated, so report away!
Waiting for "Gli avvocati sono come gli avocadi." (Although it appears that the Italians don't use the plural of avocado like we do -- perhaps incorrectly -- in American English.)
Hijackers Seize Plane Full of Lawyers Going to Convention. Threaten, if Demands Not Met, To Release One an Hour
(I'm a lawyer, btw)
I feel like this is some guy giving lawyers a pep talk and trying to motivate them to do well.
They allow you to vote people's comments up or down (like in reddit), and the most up-voted comments float to the top of the page.
In Mexico we have a popular phrase "¿somos hombres o payasos?", means "are we men or clowns?" is this similar or what?
I think Duolingo gives us sentences like this on purpose, just to see how users react to them.
Can I just point out that this entire conversation from the first comment are lawyer jokes and avocados? If you like either of these, please scroll down like I did...
Are we human, or are we dancers. I dont know, it is an unsolved question... (Killers, 2008)
This is my favourite phrase on here so far. Followed closely by "Why do we die?". Duolingo tackles the big issues.
DeanMSOuthworth: Dancer makes no sense. Avvocati are lawyers or attorneys or barristers, etc.
Are we human or are we dancer is a line from song by The Killers. It was a joke. Not the best of jokes granted, but a joke none the less.
Dean, my apologies then -- let me man up and say, "no use dancin' around it, I just wasn't familiar with it."
Now i would like to ask you a very VERY important question... Are we men? Or are we lawyers!?
"Solicitors" in the UK. Marked wrong :( Must remember this is very much a US app. Still, we can't all be perfect ;)
We do not use solicitors in American English. It is a Uk, Australian adopted word for what we call Lawyers
In Italian, an avvocato is not a solicitor - he is a lawyer. In the UK and Commonwealth countries, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers (who perform distinctly different roles in the legal system). Elsewhere, the profession of lawyer (US) or avocat (France) or abogado (Spain), encompass both (plus, the Code Law countries also have notaries who are generally restricted to conveyancing, document authentication, and similar paper-pushing roles that lawyers also perform in the U.S.).
that reminds me of the killers.
Are we human or are we dancers? some existence questions out there. haha
- 513
Lawyers... definitely not human.
Yes I'm allowed to make jabs at lawyers, my mother is a lawyer.
I thought that oppure was the right way to say "or" can anyone help me with that one?
DW should accept "solicitors", it is the English word for the Americanism "lawyers".
I like CASAUBON's humor. I like all the jokes regarding this sentence, including this one: the stupidest sentence in any language. It is possible, of course, that the writers of Duolingo were joking also.
To Jeffrey 8857....Are we here to discuss political, ethical, or whatever issues, or the Italian language? Come on, take a deep breath and focus on what we all want: to understand, speak, and read Italian.
What about "are we women or lawyers?" It's a strange sentence either way.
I am pretty sure that even the Duo voice reading the sentence laughed in the middle...
- 789
Duolingo cracking wise? I appreciate humor in the learning process. But I understand the risk of trying to be humorous. Snowflakes may somehow find a way to be offended and abandon Duolingo in search of a safe space.
The only people who might take offense are lawyers (although they probably won't because lawyers actually enjoy telling lawyer jokes to one another). I assure you that Snowflakes do not survive in the legal profession. They get their heads handed to them on plates and quickly find other means of making a living. There are no safe spaces in the profession. Pusillanimity is severely punished.
