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retorica scomoda

English translation: high-flown rhetoric

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Italian term or phrase:retorica scomoda
English translation:high-flown rhetoric
Entered by: philgoddard

17:39 Aug 31, 2015
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / economic and cultural his
Italian term or phrase: retorica scomoda
Is the best translation for 'scomodo' here simply 'awkward' or might the sense be more along the lines of 'clumsy' or 'cumbersome'? Thanks.

Context - introduction to a book describing the life and achievements of an Italian scientist.

Pensate alla quadricromia delle teste in ascolto di una vita imprevedibile come le avventure del barone di Münchhausen e certamente più vera di quella di un qualunque flâneur nel suo Grand Tour. Niente letteratura o *retorica scomoda* per definire i confini della biografia di Arturo Malignani.È la vita di un uomo che non voleva essere un eroe: soltanto un gran lavoratore...
manducci
Local time: 02:20
high-flown rhetoric
Explanation:
Or extravagant, elaborate, flowery, lofty, overblown, overwrought, or grandiloquent.

I think the idea is indeed "awkward" or "cumbersome", but these don't sound very natural to me. They're saying that fancy rhetoric is inappropriate to describe his life.
Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States
Grading comment
Thank you Phil,. Thanks too to Lisa Jane ( I like your 'fancy rhetoric')
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1high-flown rhetoric
philgoddard
4inconvenient rhetoric
potra
4clumsy rhetoric
Lara Barnett
3uncomfortable rhetoric
Shera Lyn Parpia


  

Answers


18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
uncomfortable rhetoric


Explanation:
an idea...

Shera Lyn Parpia
Italy
Local time: 02:20
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 72
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19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
high-flown rhetoric


Explanation:
Or extravagant, elaborate, flowery, lofty, overblown, overwrought, or grandiloquent.

I think the idea is indeed "awkward" or "cumbersome", but these don't sound very natural to me. They're saying that fancy rhetoric is inappropriate to describe his life.


    Reference: http://dictionary.reverso.net/italian-english/scomodo
philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 65
Grading comment
Thank you Phil,. Thanks too to Lisa Jane ( I like your 'fancy rhetoric')
Notes to answerer
Asker: I think you've hit the nail on the head, Phil. Yes, this makes sense. Thanks.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Lisa Jane: fancy rhetoric seems to sum it up...in opposition to someone who does little and then boasts about it, the scientist in question did much but was humble
3 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
inconvenient rhetoric


Explanation:
my take.

potra
United States
Local time: 20:20
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 15
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
clumsy rhetoric


Explanation:
I have very often come across the use of "clumsy" in reference to elements of language. Therefore I would confidently go with this.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2015-08-31 21:35:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"The House opted to persist with this contentious claim, but when it was presented before the Lords on 8 May, Sir Dudley Digges’s CLUMSY RHETORIC seemed to imply that Buckingham had deliberately hastened the old king’s death, possibly even with Charles’s agreement."
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/me...

Example sentence(s):
  • "We shouldn't stand for CLUMSY RHETORIC. In a speech on why Scotland............ The result is an agonisingly CLUMSY lump of rhetoric. Useless klutz."
  • "Pundits were surprised by McCain's CLUMSY RHETORIC, by his lack of teleprompter skills, by the fact that he stood in front of clumsy green backdrop."

    https://stroppyeditor.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/we-shouldnt-stand-for-clumsy-rhetoric/
    Reference: http://harpers.org/blog/2008/06/weeklyreview2008-06-10/
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:20
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 36
1 corroborated select project
in this pair and field What is ProZ.com Project History(SM)?
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