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(oso)
portare in soluzione
Jul 27, 2016 17:34
7 yrs ago
3 viewers *
Italian term

piano, pianoforte

Italian to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
This one has been driving me crazy all day.

At a "riunione di condominio", one of the residents invites everyone else round for a party.

One replies: "Lei a che piano sta?"

The host says: "Io? Saro' al pianoforte!"

Any suggestions on how to handle this while maintaining some humour?
I've got to keep a reference to "piano" in there as it's crucial to what happens next.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +5 Don't worry, you'll hear me! I'll be at the piano!
3 +3 What floor are you on? I'll be on the dance floor!
4 what floor? on the stage!
3 "Are you on the board?" "I'm on the keyboard!"

Discussion

Barbara Carrara Jul 28, 2016:
Another option How about referring to the floor as the piano nobile ( tinyurl.com/gkpwoyt ) in the answer?
Just an idea.
David Turnbull (asker) Jul 27, 2016:
Thanks to all for the input.

The piano is relatively crucial because right after he says "Io saro' al pianoforte", the scene changes and the protagonist is at a piano.
Raph Torrance Jul 27, 2016:
That's okay, don't worry about it! Yeah, we'll have to find an alternative once there's more context.
Jasmina Towers Jul 27, 2016:
apologies Rapht - I hadn't seen your discussion entry and wrote mine on my phone while in a taxi, so not 100% concentrating! In any case it doesn't work if the piano part is crucial....
philgoddard Jul 27, 2016:
I agree with rapht that we need some more context, because it may not be necessary to find an English equivalent. It's not necessarily the end of the world to leave out the odd untranslatable pun.
Raph Torrance Jul 27, 2016:
Tempted to go with something like "What floor are you on?" "The dancefloor!" but you mention that the piano bit is crucial. Can I ask how to rest of the joke goes? It may in fact be impossible to retain this very specific play on words so you can either lose it and compensate or replace it completely.

EDIT: Thanks to Jasmina for stealing my translation.
translat_r_p (X) Jul 27, 2016:
My advise is to keep the Italian words and put the translation into the brackets.

Proposed translations

+5
36 mins
Selected

Don't worry, you'll hear me! I'll be at the piano!

Maybe you could get round it with something like this?

"What floor are you on?"
"Don't worry, you'll hear me! I'll be at the piano!"

Obviously you can "play" (see what I did there??!) with the first part, according to your text and your own creativity :-)
Peer comment(s):
agree EleoE
1 hr
agree philgoddard : This loses the wordplay, but fits the context.
1 hr
agree Barbara Carrara : Snap!
11 hrs
agree BrigitteHilgner
12 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher
16 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks for the suggestion."
47 mins

what floor? on the stage!

'what floor? on the stage!' if the piano guy wanted to say 'who cares? let's have fun!'- alternatively, if the piano guy was about to move in, he may have found a way to let everybody know that he'll have the better/bigger appartment and/or considerable say in future condominio assemblies, be it because of the size of his appartment, be it because he's a dominant personality, in which case 'what floor? the executive floor!'
Note from asker:
Honourable mention. Thanks. I proposed this as an alternative for the client.
Something went wrong...
+3
5 mins

What floor are you on? I'll be on the dance floor!


.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 52 mins (2016-07-27 18:27:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Oops I hadn't noticed the last bit about keeping the piano reference!
Peer comment(s):
agree Tom in London : I wouldn't worry about the piano. I like this. It has the same zip as the Italian and you could always add something like "on the dance floor, at the piano"
1 hr
agree EleoE : With Tom.
1 hr
agree Anna Amisano : not easy to solve...I like this way!
15 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

"Are you on the board?" "I'm on the keyboard!"

Bearing in mind the extended context... if it's important for him to be at the piano then we could use a different way to reference it (keys, ivory, keyboard etc.) and change the original question.

A lot of blocks of flats have a homeowner's board or association, so what if the guy asks the stranger if he's on the board?
Something went wrong...
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