Coglioni April 6, 2006
Posted by dorigo in humor, language, news, politics.2 comments
… But what is the real translation of "coglione" anyway ? In the former post I decided to use the simple term "idiot", but the translation, while doing justice to the metaphoric meaning of the word, does not convey in any way the accompanying injury, and does not make any mention to a specific part of the male body - the testicle (literally a "coglione" is a testicle, in fact).
I found several opinions in the international press, who was busy yesterday reporting on Berlusconi's ignoble sortie. One goes from "dickhead" to "moron" and "asshole". These expressions are rather similar in the level of injury to "coglione", but not too faithful to the meaning.
After considering the various alternatives, I think I have made up my mind: the best way to convey meaning and injury at the same level of "coglione" is "dickhead".
That choice is quite unfortunate, however, because it makes it harder for me to translate a joke that is spreading around via SMS (cellphone messages). It involves Renato Mannheimer, a statistician and an expert in election polls. I will thus have to stick with "testicle" for "coglione". Here is the joke:
Renato Mannheimer predicts mathematically the victory of the center-left coalition "l'Unione" by pointing out: "The testicles are necessarily twice as many as the dickheads".
