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- Topic: Italian >
- "Devo sputare il rospo."
91 Comments
I definitely thought "spit the toad" was going to be an idiom for using the restroom.
So did I. Alas. I find the ways we have to guess idioms quite silly. This method doesn't work for things that aren't direct translations.
Agreed. This methodology for language learning is great for logical/direct translations, etc. But for idioms, especially ones that almost sound like the mean the exact opposite of what they really do, this method leads to nothing but frustration. It would be nice if for the idioms sections it could be more like a true game, matching, etc. This isn't intended to be a complaint per se. I generally find the Duolingo method quite effective. But it's just that for idioms, it is quite literally a random guess, with nothing to go on, and it just causes annoyance at times. :-(
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And it is a problem when you are not native English speaker, as well. Now I discover that this is a great gap in my English, although I speak it quite well, in a sence that people don't have problem understanding what I want to express.
I agree. A matching exercise would be better for us to try to figure out the meaning. :)
I guessed that as well! Like one has to clear his or her throat.
That's a great phrase. I think I will use the literal translation in English, never mind Italian!
JeanGrey is right. And it can mean you have something bothering you, weighing down on your feelings, or something you have been wanting to say for a long time. Then when you say it, you can say, "Glad I got that off of my chest!" :)
The elephant in the room means that there's something really obvious that everyone knows about but noone is discussing.
My question as well. Since a toad is an "it" I thought that response would be correct. Guess I was wrong.
No-- you're right, it should be right. Duo is not flexible or fully informed.
I think it's because there isn't really an 'it' in any idiom. You have to translate it to the idiom in the other language. I translated this as 'i have to spill the beans', the beans being like the toad in italian.
It's actually really hard to make exercises to learn idioms, because lots are not even translatable!
None are "translatable" (at least literally); by definition idioms are non-literal/ untranslatable ideas with an overall meaning -- often found in other languages as different idioms. Other idioms are translations of ancient Latin (or even Greek like Æsop) sayings or phrases from the Bible, but they come out sounding different through the evolution of the different European languages that inherited them-- closer to literal Latin or even Hebrew. They should be introduced whole with corresponding English idioms (plural, as British and American often differ) and then the individual words and syntax pulled out.
More commonly used among friends as a request made to someone who is worried or sad about something to just let others know what's wrong (so they can help him or console him). So typically "Cosa c'è? Dai, sputa il rospo!"
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When I discovered tge meaning of "sputare" I immediately thought of "spilling the beans" and DL accepted it!
Yes, I had the exact same idea, glad it works, 'cause translating idioms to idioms is tricky :P
I kind of wish they'd have you translate the idioms literally, and then offer an explanation of the true idiomatic meaning in italian....but i guess the comment sections do a fair job of that, anyway.
I answered "I have to spill the beans" and it was accepted. This would mean in the US that I have to "Let the cat out of the bag". (Okay, so I used an idiom to explain an idiom...am I idiomatic?) Anyway...meaning "I have to let some news out that was a secret." Another translation was "I have to get something off my chest" which would indicate that something is bothering me and I need to discuss it.
Is there an Italian phrase to do with swallowing toads? I know an Italian who uses this odd phrase in English so I thought maybe it was a translation of Italian. Though of course it could be a mistranslation of the phrase we are engaged on.
Haha, yes, "ingoiare il rospo" means having to resignedly accept something you dislike, or ignoring something bad that has been done to you.
Similar to "eat crow" in English, which means accept consequences of something bad you've done.
I thought this was either "I have a frog in my throat" or "I have to kiss a frog" so I just translated it literally. And I'm glad I did!
Another one that was added recently, so when I went back to practice my idioms, I get a new one instead . . . and a rather bizarre one at that! (Still waiting for "It's raining cats and dogs." which is what was "promised" when I "bought" the idioms lessons but that phrase still hasn't appeared.)
never mind, no English person ever says that any more anyway - it's just to identify foreign speakers who have learned an olde worlde phrase :)
I still say it. (which probably reveals my age) I just stepped in a poodle.
Hahaha, I'm totally gonna use 'I just stepped in a poodle', just to see who gets it that I'd be referring to it raining cats and dogs. Thanks! :)
We in the South (USA) use "raining cats and dogs" very commonly. Of course we also use crawfish, crabs and other edible wildlife as well!
should be OK but DuoL is limited to the simple replies the programmers give it.
Duolingo is telling me that "ought" is 3rd person only in English (when I translated this "I ought" to spill the beans.). Any English experts out there who know if this is accurate?
Nah, don't take those notes at face value, they tried to let the software recognise the type of error but sometimes it causes more misunderstandings that it solves; "ought to" should be fine.
The hints imply that 'spilling the beans (on)' [ telling the heretofore undisclosed, prized truth in a type of betrayal of secrecy] should work but this idiom does not have the same meaning as 'getting something of my chest' [relieving my anxiety by telling something that has been on my conscience or weighing on me]. Is the idiom used for both contexts in Italian or is this another case of one or other idiomatic meaning lost in translation. Personally I like the 'I have to spit out the toad' version best :) but it doesn't matter which English translation we pick as long as we learn how to use it in Italian.
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This was a really interesting one! I couldn't think of anything besides "I've got a frog in my throat", so "I have to get something off of my chest" was a long shot!
Is there another italian idiom that means the same thing?
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I got this first as audio, "type what you hear." Really had no idea what she was saying, let alone the meaning. So I was surprised and thrilled to get it right except for a couple of typos. And I learned what the idiom means. Lucky shot!
Isn't this the same as "I have something to say?" if we're talking idioms?
It said the combined translation of "sputare il rospo" was "spill the beans, but i guess they're pretty much the same. Spill the beans is to tell all, usually in a rush of words, trying to get it over with as fast as possible. Getting something off your chest is to relieve the pressure of a secret that is weighing you down or too shocking to hold in. Can it be translated as both?
There is something wrong with the word translations and the actual sentence did anyone else have a similar problem?
I figured it was something like "addressing the elephant in the room"
I thought this was a big green snot in my throath that i need to get rid off?
I guessed "I must confess" and it wasn't valid, but the meaning is the same.
what a wast of food. i mean, what type of a person spills beans on purpose and tells everybody. he better clean them up or i am telling his mother. if he still doesnt, i will tell his father too.
"I have to get it off my chest" and "I have to spill the beans" don't mean the same thing. The former implies saying something that has been held in or might be held in because it is somehow negative, e.g. an embarrassing fact, an unpopular opinion, a grievance. The latter implies saying something that is true, but which is supposed to be a secret. Is one a better translation than the other?
I don't know if it's related, but I've seen pictures of medieval bas-relief sculpture on French cathedrals with sinners in Hell being herded into boiling cauldrons. Some of them were spitting out toads. I think the image was supposed to represent sins that had not been confessed.
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In the app, the hint says "spill the beans," which means something rather different in English than "get something of my chest"
What on earth?!?!?!?!?!?! I wrote "I have to spill the beans" and it was correct- now I look and it's "I have to get something off my chest!??!? Maybe they were laying on the ground under a tree and something dropped on them?
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whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Hello?? What has a toad got to do with this? In Australia, we have a surplus of cane toads , but spitting is a no-no.... however, RACING them is acceptable ! :-)
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I would like to see Doulingo include background information on idioms like ‘spit the toad’...how on earth did that come to represent to need to get something off of one’s chest?
Nobody knows; there are some interpretations like http://www.perchesidice.net/animali/perche-si-dice-sputare-il-rospo.html
In short, toads are disgusting and you'd want to spit them out as soon as possible, so it becomes a metaphor for something you really want to get out.
In italian "sputare il rospo" is usually used when someone reveals something which is supposed to be a secret; so the best translation should be "I have to spill the beans", "I have to spill my guts" or "I have to blow the whistle". Instead "I have to get something off my chest" could be a better translation to match the italian expression "levarsi un peso dallo stomaco" or "togliersi un sassolino dalla scarpa" which mean to reveal something which is bothering or annoying us.
