Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Italian term or phrase:
Più che uno che si è fatto da solo, sembra uno che si è fatto da poco
English translation:
Not so much a self-made man as a half-made man
Added to glossary by
Vassilios Ikonomidis
Jul 13, 2008 15:26
15 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Italian term
Greece
Never missed a deadline
Native in: Greek , Italian 
Works in: Italian to Greek, Greek to Italian, English to Greek, and 2 more.
Più che uno che si è fatto da solo, sembra uno che si è fatto da poco
Italian to English
Other
Slang
Slang, Humour
Slang, Humour
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +6 | Not so much a self-made man as a half-made man |
Nick Saint John
|
| 4 | Not so much as a self-made man as a still half-unmade man |
Fabio Barbieri
|
Proposed translations
+6
37 mins
Selected
Not so much a self-made man as a half-made man
A loose translation but I think it conveys the meaning (you might need to substitute person for man)
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Grazie!"
1 day 18 hrs
Fabio Barbieri
Italy
Italy
Native in Italian
&
English
Italy
I translate as I breathe
Native in: English (Variants: British, Irish, UK, US) , Italian
Works in: English to Italian, Italian to English, French to Italian, and 3 more.
Not so much as a self-made man as a still half-unmade man
This is not to contradict the previous rendering, but this one seems to me closer to the point. What the witticism says is not that the man is only recently made, as the he is just made, or, alternatively, made out of poor materials - both readings are possible.
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