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May 16, 2012 09:50
12 yrs ago
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Italian term

Sono brutto o sono bello? Come il caramello

Italian to English Other Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
This sentence is found in an Italian documentary which needs English subtitles.
It's said by an old man who is trying to distract a crying toddler, trying to get him to stop crying.
The sentence isn't a set phrase in Italian and it doesn't make particular sense. I think it's used just because of the rhyme "bello-caramello". Maybe there's something in English that sounds similar? Maybe with the word "candy"?
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 Am I rough or am I dandy? Like a candy
4 sad or funny? Like honey?
3 +1 Sugar and spice and everything nice...
4 Am I ugly or am I smart, just like an apple tart?
3 +1 Roses are red, violets are blue, If you stop crying, this is for you!
4 Am I ugly, am I dandy? just like sugar candy
4 mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?

Discussion

James (Jim) Davis May 16, 2012:
I nearly put jam-tart which is slang for something else, without the rhyme.
Giles Watson May 16, 2012:
@ Jim No photos, I'm afraid. It's a bit early for roses.

BTW, I'd be careful with "apple tart". Some people use "apple" as a rhyming slang synonym for "Orson" ;-)
James (Jim) Davis May 16, 2012:
I stand by my red roses and blue violets Photo? Sorry Giles, couldn't resist it.
James (Jim) Davis May 16, 2012:
Really need to see the documentary What does the kid do? Does the kid immediately start laughing at the witty joke and have his haircut, or does the kid look as if he is asking himself why his grandfather is so stupid and unfunny and cry even louder than before?
If the latter is the case then, a pretty literal translation is probably the best. At the sound of this "Am I ugly or am I beautifult? Like a sweet" I'm almost crying too.
Giles Watson May 16, 2012:
Doesn't matter anyway If it's only to get the boy's attention, it doesn't have to be a sweet, or even specified at all, in the English.

The rhyme "bello"/"caramello" and the "sweet" notion in the Italian don't seem to have any purpose beyond distracting the haircut victim's gaze away from the impending scissors.

I stand by my red roses and blue violets ;-)
Oliver Lawrence May 16, 2012:
No sweet, Giles We've already established that :). I thought about suggesting the modern classic "Go the f*ck to sleep" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_the_Fuck_to_Sleep), but then thought better of it.
Giles Watson May 16, 2012:
Is there an actual sweet? If the old man is offering the child a sweet to stop him crying, you could try something like:

Roses are red, violets are blue,
If you stop crying, this is for you!

FWIW
philgoddard May 16, 2012:
I'd make something up. What would we say in English to distract a crying toddler?
Ilaria Iannazzo (asker) May 16, 2012:
Sure you can! They are at a barber's shop; the boy is crying because he doesn't want to have a haircut and the man is trying to get him to stop crying so he can have it. it's like an episode, an example of what can happen at a barber's shop.
James (Jim) Davis May 16, 2012:
What is the documentary about? Why are they filming an old man with a toddler? What is the message? Where are they? Can we know what you know please?
Ilaria Iannazzo (asker) May 16, 2012:
Nope, he's empty-handed. That's why the sentence comes a bit out of the blue in Italian. It doesn't have any reference with the context, both audio and video. It just rhymes...
Oliver Lawrence May 16, 2012:
Next question :) Does the old man actually have a sweet that he is trying to pacify the child with?
Ilaria Iannazzo (asker) May 16, 2012:
Either would work, I guess, since the documentary maker hopes to be able to send it to film festivals around the world.
Oliver Lawrence May 16, 2012:
US or UK English ?

Proposed translations

+1
19 mins
Selected

Am I rough or am I dandy? Like a candy

Sompthin' like that :)

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Note added at 6 hrs (2012-05-16 16:20:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

violets are blue, roses are red
I think this issue is just about dead! :)
Peer comment(s):
agree P.L.F. Persio : ariecco la tigre! / Ho capito, è di quei tipi che, come diciamo in Italia, hanno "ла скопа нел куло";-)
21 mins
Grazie! No, non c'entrerebbe: troppo stretto!
neutral S Kelly : Ilaria, just be careful that "candy" is more commonly used as a collective than as a singular "a candy"
1 day 1 hr
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you!"
18 mins

sad or funny? Like honey?

Seeing as "funny" and "honey" rhyme I would use something like this. Children's vocabulary would definitely extend to these words IMO -
"funny and honey".

Not clear if this would be "I" or "they", but I am sure either would work:

"Am I sad or am I funny, like honey?

"Are they sad, or are they funny like honey?"
Something went wrong...
+1
33 mins

Sugar and spice and everything nice...

This could work if the child was a girl..

"sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of" is the full idiom

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Note added at 4 hrs (2012-05-16 14:34:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Now that it has been clarified that this is a boy, the suggestion is redundant.
Peer comment(s):
agree Mary Stefan
2 hrs
neutral Oliver Lawrence : according to the question, it's a boy
2 hrs
neutral Michael Korovkin : to pay for an old man's vice! :)
6 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

Am I ugly or am I smart, just like an apple tart?

or "Am I bitter or am I sweet, just like nice treat?"
Peer comment(s):
neutral Michael Korovkin : here's a sweet from an old... ...man :)
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
4 hrs

Roses are red, violets are blue, If you stop crying, this is for you!

See discussion.
Peer comment(s):
agree P.L.F. Persio : approvo!
20 mins
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

Am I ugly, am I dandy? just like sugar candy

I composed this, it conveys the essence and the rhyme.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2012-05-16 14:58:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

It would seem the boy doesn't wish to have his hair cut, and he may be pulling ugly faces to distract him, hence the reference to "brutto" and "bello"
Something went wrong...
5 hrs

mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?

in a barber's there is gong to be mirrors

one way people use to stop toddlers crying is by using nursery rhymes

All around the garden, looking for teddy bears...

or

Little Jack Horner sat in a corner...

would go well here imo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nursery_rhyme


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Note added at 5 hrs (2012-05-16 15:11:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

obviously, if there's no sweets or candy, there's no need to use the word.

another consideration:
Is this being dubbed? Do you need something that lipsynchs like the Italian/
Something went wrong...
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