Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Italian term or phrase:
cavallo di battaglia
English translation:
Piece de resistance
Added to glossary by
Lisa Jane
Mar 24, 2017 12:15
7 yrs ago
9 viewers *
Italian term
cavallo di battaglia
Italian to English
Art/Literary
Music
Entertainment
Replies were posted some time ago for this phrase, but none were suitable solutions for this context:
A series of shows on which the host performed some of his C di B (his best-known sketches/songs) and all his guests were asked to do likewise, performing what they considered their "forte"?
A series of shows on which the host performed some of his C di B (his best-known sketches/songs) and all his guests were asked to do likewise, performing what they considered their "forte"?
Proposed translations
(English)
4 +2 | Piece de resistance | Lisa Jane |
4 +3 | best shot / signature xx | Shabelula |
3 +2 | biggest hits | Patrick Hopkins |
4 | speciality number | Inter-Tra |
Change log
Mar 29, 2017 05:21: Lisa Jane Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+2
1 hr
Selected
Piece de resistance
My English friends use this for showbiz, with or without the accents!
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-03-24 14:09:44 GMT)
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Etymology Edit
Borrowing from French pièce de résistance
Noun Edit
pièce de résistance (plural pièces de résistance)
(idiomatic) A masterpiece; the most memorable accomplishment of one’s career or lifetime.
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-03-24 14:11:47 GMT)
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https://longreads.com/2017/02/11/comedy-the-true-piece-de-re...
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-03-24 14:09:44 GMT)
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Etymology Edit
Borrowing from French pièce de résistance
Noun Edit
pièce de résistance (plural pièces de résistance)
(idiomatic) A masterpiece; the most memorable accomplishment of one’s career or lifetime.
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-03-24 14:11:47 GMT)
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https://longreads.com/2017/02/11/comedy-the-true-piece-de-re...
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+2
2 mins
biggest hits
This might be more appropriate for music and theater in general
Peer comment(s):
disagree |
Shabelula
: no sorry, IMHO this is not the sense, at least definitely not in the plural
38 mins
|
Re: Plural because some of his sketchES/songS (plural). Of course "biggest hits" is all relative (not necessarily on Billboard but a person/band's most popular songs/routines) and it is very specific to the context, not applicable outside showbiz.
|
|
agree |
philgoddard
3 hrs
|
agree |
Nancy Greenleese
7 hrs
|
disagree |
bluenoric
: I agree with Raffaella, plural doesn't work with cavallo di battaglia
22 hrs
|
agree |
Vojislava Jankovic (X)
1 day 2 hrs
|
agree |
Anita M. A. Mazzoli
: some of his biggest hits: makes sense. Perfectly. And it sounds English ;-)
2 days 23 hrs
|
+3
46 mins
best shot / signature xx
a series of options available for various professions from "Reverso"
Note from asker:
they're comedy sketeches, not just songs |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
ChananZass
: "sang his signature songs"
38 mins
|
neutral |
philgoddard
: "Best shot" isn't correct, but "signature" may be, depending on the Italian context.
1 hr
|
agree |
bluenoric
: "signature character" as in Rowan Atkinson/Mr. Bean
22 hrs
|
agree |
Peter Cox
2 days 3 hrs
|
1 hr
speciality number
I think this solution here works quite well
If you wanna preserve sth of the original idiom you might think at 'winning horse'
a 'strong suit' is more a " quality, activity, or skill in which a person excels: "
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/strong suit
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-03-24 13:33:35 GMT)
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a 'core product' (Cirio tomato souce) was also the translation of 'cavallo di battaglia' (Maurizio Costanzo Show)
ps://books.google.it/books?id=_kBpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA310&lpg=PA310&dq=speciality+number+act+cavallo+di+battaglia&source=bl&ots=ZQ5__ie1Fm&sig=aOdop-dCdHTtTjn6ulMzWKTFoCk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiD-NKon-_SAhWkFJoKHSKxBssQ6AEILTAD#v=onepage&q=speciality%20number%20act%20cavallo%20di%20battaglia&f=false
If you wanna preserve sth of the original idiom you might think at 'winning horse'
a 'strong suit' is more a " quality, activity, or skill in which a person excels: "
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/strong suit
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-03-24 13:33:35 GMT)
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a 'core product' (Cirio tomato souce) was also the translation of 'cavallo di battaglia' (Maurizio Costanzo Show)
ps://books.google.it/books?id=_kBpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA310&lpg=PA310&dq=speciality+number+act+cavallo+di+battaglia&source=bl&ots=ZQ5__ie1Fm&sig=aOdop-dCdHTtTjn6ulMzWKTFoCk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiD-NKon-_SAhWkFJoKHSKxBssQ6AEILTAD#v=onepage&q=speciality%20number%20act%20cavallo%20di%20battaglia&f=false
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