Glossary entry

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"?
Change log

Mar 29, 2017 05:21: Lisa Jane Created KOG entry

Discussion

ulvaferry (asker) Mar 24, 2017:
It was the title of a program too (which I had no intention of translating), but was hoping for some suggestions to use in my explanation of the title...
Inter-Tra Mar 24, 2017:
Asker is the above the title of a programme? or is also the title of a programme?
philgoddard Mar 24, 2017:
It appears that this is the title of a programme, in which case it should be left in Italian, with a few words of explanation if necessary.
philgoddard Mar 24, 2017:
Could we have the Italian context, please?

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...
Peer comment(s):

agree Peter Cox
2 days 2 hrs
Thanks Peter
agree Inter-Tra : Ma che brava. Grazie, ho imparato una nuova espressione idiomatica
7 days
Grazie mille! Il bello di kudoz è proprio questo!
Something went wrong...
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
Something went wrong...
+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
Something went wrong...
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

Something went wrong...
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