Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Italian term or phrase:
un inutile polverone
English translation:
a senseless tumult
Added to glossary by
Barbara Cochran, MFA
Mar 21, 2019 22:15
5 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Italian term
United States
Laudable Lady Linguist
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 3 more.
un inutile polverone
Italian to English
Art/Literary
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
In A Book On The History Of Geographical Explorations/Discoveries
Contesto (Vikings' discovery of America):
La Vinland Map è un chiaro esempio della forza dei pregiudizi, che come tutti i pregiudizi, ha finito per creare un inutile polverone intorno a un evento storico che non lo meritava.
Anything better than "useless controversy"?
Grazie,
Barbara
La Vinland Map è un chiaro esempio della forza dei pregiudizi, che come tutti i pregiudizi, ha finito per creare un inutile polverone intorno a un evento storico che non lo meritava.
Anything better than "useless controversy"?
Grazie,
Barbara
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 | senseless tumult |
Wendy Streitparth
|
| 4 +2 | a pointless smokescreen |
Andrew Bramhall
|
| 4 +1 | useless hot air |
Lara Barnett
|
| 4 +1 | raising an unnecessary dust cloud |
Lisa Jane
|
| 4 | useless fuss |
Daniela Cannarella
|
Change log
Mar 26, 2019 11:11: Barbara Cochran, MFA Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
9 hrs
Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Germany
Native in English
Works in field
Germany
45 years experience
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
81
Selected
senseless tumult
In 1916, knowing like Yeats what it was like to be led astray by all that senseless tumult,
https://books.google.de/books?id=nvGuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA132&lpg=P...
...by proposing questions vain in themselves, but well calculated to inflame the mind, and thereby to lose in senseless tumult the whole time fixed for a session.
https://books.google.de/books?id=st0RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA959&lpg=P...
https://books.google.de/books?id=nvGuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA132&lpg=P...
...by proposing questions vain in themselves, but well calculated to inflame the mind, and thereby to lose in senseless tumult the whole time fixed for a session.
https://books.google.de/books?id=st0RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA959&lpg=P...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
5 mins
Daniela Cannarella
Italy
Italy
Native in Italian
Specializes in field
Italy
Good:Engineering
Native in: Italian
Works in: English to Italian, Latin to Italian, Italian to English, and 6 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
useless fuss
https://context.reverso.net/traduzione/inglese-italiano/fuss...
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Note added at 14 mins (2019-03-21 22:29:17 GMT)
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if you prefer you can choose "pointless discussion" or "useless debate"
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Note added at 14 mins (2019-03-21 22:29:17 GMT)
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if you prefer you can choose "pointless discussion" or "useless debate"
Note from asker:
| Thank you, but the register is academic. |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Lara Barnett
: I find "useless fuss" a bit tautologous. A more compatible adjective should really be used with "fuss", such as "terrible fuss" for example.
1 hr
|
| neutral |
Andrew Bramhall
: Doesn't really fit;
2 hrs
|
+2
2 hrs
Andrew Bramhall
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
Flair and accuracy tailored to your text
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
26
a pointless smokescreen
around an historical event which didn't deserve it;
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Wendy Streitparth
: Didn't see your answer!
6 hrs
|
|
Thanks!
|
|
| agree |
Lara Barnett
2 days 14 hrs
|
+1
1 hr
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Specializes in field
United Kingdom
www.lingocraft.co.uk
Native in: English (Variants: UK, South African, British, Scottish, Irish, Singaporean) 
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Romanian to English, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
87
useless hot air
I do not think the text is explicitly saying "controversies" through the use of "polverone". Our equivalent of "dust cloud" would be something like "hot air",
"Hot Air:
empty, exaggerated, or pretentious talk or writing:
His report on the company's progress was just so much hot air."
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hot-air?s=t
In my experience this can be used either formally or informally, but I think it works in this text in the same way that "dust cloud" is being used to spice up the formal narrative like a metaphor - i.e. similar metaphoric style albeit different imagery with dust and air.
You could also say :
"...to create nothing more than a load of useless hot air around a historic event....."
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Note added at 1 hr (2019-03-22 00:11:20 GMT)
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Re. "controversies", I am aware that this was a controversial issue, but I just do not see "controversy" conveyed through the use of "polverone" specifically.
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Note added at 3 hrs (2019-03-22 01:50:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I am aware this is an academic or formal text, but the use of individual words or phrases is not what makes a tense formal or informal. Is 'polverone" an academic word?
"Hot Air:
empty, exaggerated, or pretentious talk or writing:
His report on the company's progress was just so much hot air."
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hot-air?s=t
In my experience this can be used either formally or informally, but I think it works in this text in the same way that "dust cloud" is being used to spice up the formal narrative like a metaphor - i.e. similar metaphoric style albeit different imagery with dust and air.
You could also say :
"...to create nothing more than a load of useless hot air around a historic event....."
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2019-03-22 00:11:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Re. "controversies", I am aware that this was a controversial issue, but I just do not see "controversy" conveyed through the use of "polverone" specifically.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2019-03-22 01:50:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I am aware this is an academic or formal text, but the use of individual words or phrases is not what makes a tense formal or informal. Is 'polverone" an academic word?
Example sentence:
"Cynical observers of UK politics might remark that MPs in the House of Commons produce a lot of USELESS HOT AIR."
"Massive wind farm expansion plans for Wirral coast branded 'USELESS HOT AIR' "
Note from asker:
| Thanks, but like I said before, the register is academic. |
+1
8 hrs
raising an unnecessary dust cloud
Or
Kicking up dust unnecessarily around a historical event...
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Note added at 8 hrs (2019-03-22 06:37:20 GMT)
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To kick up dust:
To make a fuss about something trivial or noncontroversial.
1930, James Dalessandro, 1906 - a Novel:
Shanghai Kelly has been kicking up dust about the war on the crimps and boardinghouse keepers.
2011, Gary Andrew Poole, PacMan, →ISBN:
He kicked up dust about how we really didn't have our facts straight regarding his allegedly loaded gloves.
2011, Falling Rain, Ouroboros: Road of Legend, →ISBN, page 318:
She was certain she was about to kick up dust about her mother just as Setsuka had done about Mitsu's death eighteen years ago.
2015, Larry Moran, Laughing through Life, →ISBN:
On he went to the international accounts, where he vapored over the balance of payments accounts, kicked up dust about foreign investment in the United States and US investment abroad, and gasconaded over the US international debt position.
Kicking up dust unnecessarily around a historical event...
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Note added at 8 hrs (2019-03-22 06:37:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
To kick up dust:
To make a fuss about something trivial or noncontroversial.
1930, James Dalessandro, 1906 - a Novel:
Shanghai Kelly has been kicking up dust about the war on the crimps and boardinghouse keepers.
2011, Gary Andrew Poole, PacMan, →ISBN:
He kicked up dust about how we really didn't have our facts straight regarding his allegedly loaded gloves.
2011, Falling Rain, Ouroboros: Road of Legend, →ISBN, page 318:
She was certain she was about to kick up dust about her mother just as Setsuka had done about Mitsu's death eighteen years ago.
2015, Larry Moran, Laughing through Life, →ISBN:
On he went to the international accounts, where he vapored over the balance of payments accounts, kicked up dust about foreign investment in the United States and US investment abroad, and gasconaded over the US international debt position.
Discussion