Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Italian term or phrase:
abbiamo fatto a chi ce lo aveva più duro
English translation:
we were always playing at who was/who\'s the hardest
Added to glossary by
Lara Barnett
Feb 7, 2019 12:11
5 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Italian term
United Kingdom
www.lingocraft.co.uk
Native in: English (Variants: British, Scottish, Irish, Singaporean, UK, South African) 
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Romanian to English, and 2 more.
abbiamo fatto a chi ce lo aveva più duro
Italian to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Relationship-based biography
In this biographical excerpt, describing relationship between father and son (written fom son's perspective), he has just come across his father in a bar at 10.00 in the morning. His father is described as being full of pain and anger....
"Sofferenza e rabbia. Non mi sono mai riuscito a spiegare questi atteggiamenti e sicuramente questa è una delle cose delle quali non avremmo mai parlato. Da quel momento abbiamo fatto a chi ce lo aveva più duro. Fino a maggio 2010."
I don't exactly know what this is saying.
"Sofferenza e rabbia. Non mi sono mai riuscito a spiegare questi atteggiamenti e sicuramente questa è una delle cose delle quali non avremmo mai parlato. Da quel momento abbiamo fatto a chi ce lo aveva più duro. Fino a maggio 2010."
I don't exactly know what this is saying.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +2 | we were always playing at who was/who's the toughest |
Lisa Jane
|
| 4 | we went for /played at who had bigger balls/attributes |
Michael Korovkin
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Proposed translations
+2
3 hrs
Selected
we were always playing at who was/who's the toughest
Da quel momento abbiamo fatto a chi ce lo aveva più duro.
From that moment on we were always playing at who's the toughest
or
at who was the tougher man
or more idiomatic:
From that moment on we were always trying to man each other out
It's a bit like schoolboys taunting each other with "I can do this and better than you" sort of thing so I would choose the verb play to echo this.
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Note added at 3 hrs (2019-02-07 16:02:07 GMT)
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or indeed the hardest!
'to be hard' is in fact a commonly used phrase in the playground to mean someone is tough/brave/conceited etc. but naturally that would leave the play on words open to interpretation
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Note added at 3 hrs (2019-02-07 16:02:41 GMT)
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at least it is in British English
From that moment on we were always playing at who's the toughest
or
at who was the tougher man
or more idiomatic:
From that moment on we were always trying to man each other out
It's a bit like schoolboys taunting each other with "I can do this and better than you" sort of thing so I would choose the verb play to echo this.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2019-02-07 16:02:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
or indeed the hardest!
'to be hard' is in fact a commonly used phrase in the playground to mean someone is tough/brave/conceited etc. but naturally that would leave the play on words open to interpretation
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2019-02-07 16:02:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
at least it is in British English
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
: Yes, I think this is the idea.
1 hr
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Thanks Phil!
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| agree |
Fiona Grace Peterson
: The Italian is definitely an overt sexual reference. I rather like the term "p*ss*ng contest" myself, but this is a good translation register -wise!
3 hrs
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Yes the Italian intent is unmistakable!
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
23 hrs
Michael Korovkin
Italy
Italy
Native in English
Specializes in field
Italy
Native in: English 
, Russian
Works in: Russian to English, English to Russian, Italian to Russian, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
36
we went for /played at who had bigger balls/attributes
I know it sound vulgar, but that's exactly how it sounds in Italian (you certaibnly know what the expression refers to). Ours is to translate, not to censor :)))
Discussion
As I said in my last comment to Phil, I shouldn't have said in the first place that the expression has a sexual connotation, but only that it makes a reference to a sexual body part. That's why I still think that "battle of wills" or something similar would effectively convey the meaning of the expression.
Do you think that this works:
"up until that moment the battle would always be won by he who was the harder." ??
I'm sorry, I should have said that it makes a reference to a sexual body part, without actually meaning anything sexual. My bad.
"Up until that moment the battle would always be won by he who was the harder"
Yes I think that your other alternatives can work too
In the south and in Sicily we use a lot of expressions that refer to "certain" body parts metaphorically speaking, without really meaning anything sexual. So that's why a sentence that literally translates into "From that moment on we competed at who had a harder ***" in my opinion can be translated as "From that moment on we started a battle of wills" or something like that.
Unless i just said "a hardened battle of wills" or "a battle of hard wills".
OR alteratively,
"...we battled our way to who was the hardest." ?
"..the battle would be won by the hardest of us."
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/battle-...