Feb 24, 2012 20:07
12 yrs ago
Italian term
luciferini
Italian to English
Art/Literary
Construction / Civil Engineering
Speech on tunnels
"E devo dire che avendo condiviso gran parte del percorso di Rocksoil, ho ben presente l’immagine dei cantieri di galleria dei primi anni ’90, confusi e disordinati, che davano l’impressione di un avanzamento un po’ a tentoni, con attrezzature tra le più varie accalcate in spazi angusti ed un po’ luciferini."
This is what I have pencilled in:
"--- all sorts or equipment heaped in narrow spaces, a bit dark and frightening."
I have considered diabolical, hellish, demonic, but...
The context is highly technical, but here this engineer is recounting her memories of construction sites in tunnels nearly twenty years ago. She is contrasting this with today where tunnel construction sites are highly organised and industrialised like the inside of a modern factory.
This is what I have pencilled in:
"--- all sorts or equipment heaped in narrow spaces, a bit dark and frightening."
I have considered diabolical, hellish, demonic, but...
The context is highly technical, but here this engineer is recounting her memories of construction sites in tunnels nearly twenty years ago. She is contrasting this with today where tunnel construction sites are highly organised and industrialised like the inside of a modern factory.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +1 | vaguely reminiscent of the underworld |
Daniela Zambrini
|
| 5 | a dismal situation waste and wild |
Maria Panizzi
|
| 3 +1 | Dantesque |
Giles Watson
|
| 3 | slightly luciferian |
Cedric Randolph
|
Proposed translations
+1
1 hr
Daniela Zambrini
Italy
Italy
Native in Italian
&
English
Italy
Handling words with care since 1998
Native in: English 
, Italian
Works in: English to Italian, Italian to English
Related KudoZ points
:
46
Italian term (edited):
un po' luciferini
Selected
vaguely reminiscent of the underworld
underworld = the mythical abode of the dead, imagined as being under the earth
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Note added at 1 hr (2012-02-24 21:45:08 GMT)
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mmm...I was thinking maybe you could squeeze it into "underworldish" (13 letters :) ) but it's not to be found in the dictionary...
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Note added at 1 day22 hrs (2012-02-26 18:13:03 GMT)
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Ciao Jim, I was just wondering if "un po' luciferini" might have been specifically chosen by the author for its connection to the latin origin of the word itself, "portatore di luce" (lux>luce + ferre>portare).
Could it be important for the author to consider the tunnel (once completed!) "portatore di luce"...?
I don't want to confuse the issue..just some more food for thought!
Ciao :-)
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Note added at 1 hr (2012-02-24 21:45:08 GMT)
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mmm...I was thinking maybe you could squeeze it into "underworldish" (13 letters :) ) but it's not to be found in the dictionary...
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Note added at 1 day22 hrs (2012-02-26 18:13:03 GMT)
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Ciao Jim, I was just wondering if "un po' luciferini" might have been specifically chosen by the author for its connection to the latin origin of the word itself, "portatore di luce" (lux>luce + ferre>portare).
Could it be important for the author to consider the tunnel (once completed!) "portatore di luce"...?
I don't want to confuse the issue..just some more food for thought!
Ciao :-)
Note from asker:
| Neat, conjures up the vision I have almost perfectly, even if more pagan. I do know about Hades, beyond the styx but haven't been there yet :). You couldn't squeeze it into a dozen or so letters, could you? |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Rachel Fell
: Stygian -? At least it's concise (though maybe not sufficiently sinister sounding?) ;-)
1 hr
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "The irony of "vaguely reminiscent" is what did it. Thanks Daniela."
12 hrs
Cedric Randolph
Italy
Italy
Native in Italian
&
English
Italy
Reliable, punctual and accurate
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK) , Italian
Works in: Italian to English
Related KudoZ points
:
168
slightly luciferian
another possibility hearkening to the original
Note from asker:
| Thank you Cedric |
1 day 16 mins
Maria Panizzi
Italy
Italy
Native in Italian
Italy
Special words for special people
Native in: Italian
Works in: Italian, Italian to English, English to Italian
a dismal situation waste and wild
Maybe Milton has something to suggest
Note from asker:
| Thank you Maria |
+1
13 hrs
Dantesque
All kinds of machinery "crowded into cramped spaces in a vaguely Dantesque confusion".
End-focusing the notion of confusion implicit in "accalcate" would help to underline the contrast between past and present.
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Note added at 14 hrs (2012-02-25 10:51:58 GMT)
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Actually, you could proabably also bin "spaces":
"crowding together in cramped, almost Dantesque, confusion".
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Note added at 1 day13 hrs (2012-02-26 09:38:55 GMT)
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If you want to go for classical mythology, "trans-Stygian" is perhaps preferable to "Stygian" since the Styx is/was a river, not a tunnel. It lacks the "suffering souls" connotation of "Dantesque", though.
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Note added at 1 day18 hrs (2012-02-26 14:25:25 GMT)
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Hi Jim,
Dante works for the Anglosphere and European cultures, too, of course but if you have to factor in other audiences you could shift the focus to the individual and talk about "cramped, soul-destroying/crushing confusion".
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Note added at 1 day19 hrs (2012-02-26 15:34:40 GMT)
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Here's another attempt:
the cluttered tunnel construction sites of the early Nineties that looked as if they were groping their way forward in a cramped, somewhat soul-destroying, tangle of machinery.
End-focusing the notion of confusion implicit in "accalcate" would help to underline the contrast between past and present.
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Note added at 14 hrs (2012-02-25 10:51:58 GMT)
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Actually, you could proabably also bin "spaces":
"crowding together in cramped, almost Dantesque, confusion".
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day13 hrs (2012-02-26 09:38:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
If you want to go for classical mythology, "trans-Stygian" is perhaps preferable to "Stygian" since the Styx is/was a river, not a tunnel. It lacks the "suffering souls" connotation of "Dantesque", though.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day18 hrs (2012-02-26 14:25:25 GMT)
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Hi Jim,
Dante works for the Anglosphere and European cultures, too, of course but if you have to factor in other audiences you could shift the focus to the individual and talk about "cramped, soul-destroying/crushing confusion".
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day19 hrs (2012-02-26 15:34:40 GMT)
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Here's another attempt:
the cluttered tunnel construction sites of the early Nineties that looked as if they were groping their way forward in a cramped, somewhat soul-destroying, tangle of machinery.
Note from asker:
| Hi Giles, I forgot to say, the readership will be truly international. For an Italian readership the Dante-hell connection is all too immediate, but the SOE doesn't make it. |
| Thanks for all the hard work Giles. I went for Daniela's, because I feel that the "un po'" in the source betrays a glint of irony in the eye of the speaker, whom I once met 20 years ago. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
P.L.F. Persio
: that's so clever, and the second proposal is really spot on.
50 mins
|
Discussion