FALSE FRIENDS INGLESE-ITALIANO

False friends, ovvero i falsi amici linguistici, un modo antipatico per definire le sfumature di differenza che rendono una ligua straniera difficile ma affascinante. Nei prossimi articoli, ve ne proporrò alcuni che si incontrano spesso nel business English.

(to) Abuse = insultare; usare male qcs è generalmente misuse; however, you may also abuse a position; abusare di qcn è invece rape o take advantage of, or sexually assault smn

Abstemious = sobrio, morigerato: astemio è teetotal

Accident = incidente

(to) Accommodate ha diversi significati, ma nessuno in comune con l’italiano “accomodare/accomodarsi”: vuol dire infatti alloggiare, avere la capienza di, (poter) contenere (come in: “the hotel can’t accommodate us tonight”; “the tent accommodates five”; adattarsi a, consentire (come in “the schedule must be able to accommodate last-minute changes”); soddisfare (come in: “we can no longer accommodate requests for changes”: si accomodi è (please) sit down / take a seat

Account = conto corrente (come in: “he withdrew half the money from his account); cliente (AmE, come in: “the company has just won two new accounts”); resoconto, racconto, rapporto, relazione (come in: “he gave a detailed account of the match”; “she was asked to give an account of her actions”);  considerazione, causa (come in: “the war began on account of several factors”); profitto, valore, importanza (come in: “they turned his new idea to account”; “his ideas are of no account”); non acconto, che è advance (payment)

Act = legge: atto nel senso di documento scritto o provvedimento di un’autorità vale document, deed, order ecc., secondo il contesto; gli atti di qcn. nel senso di azioni (es. gli atti del rappresentante) sono generalmente actions

Actual = effettivo, non attuale, che si traduce invece con current, present

Addiction = dipendenza da stupefacenti, alcool ecc.; dependence on a substance or conduct (gambling etc. addizione è invece addition) one of the four basic operations of arithmetic consisting of uniting two or more numbers into one sum, and represented by the symbol +,

Adjudicate = 1. settle a disputed matter judicially; take a judicial decision: the Court will adjudicate on all disputes arising from the contract; 2. act as a judge in a competition: he was asked to adjudicate at the competition

synonyms:      judge, adjudge, try, hear, examine, arbitrate, decide on, decide, settle, resolve, determine, pronounce on, give a ruling on, sit in judgement on, pass judgement on, give a verdict on, make a ruling on; pronounce or declare judicially: he was adjudicated bankrupt.

In Italian pronunciarsi, giudicare non aggiudicare (award)

Adverse possession = A way to acquire title to property, without consideration, through possession (original acquisition, i.e., not by way of a transfer from the owner). It is a common law doctrine, so the requirements under this law must be met, and a principle of real estate law, although personal property may also be acquired by adverse possession.  In particular, the possession must go on for a sufficient period of time, as defined by a statute of limitations and it must be actual, open, hostile, and continuous. Adverse possession is similar to prescription, another way to acquire title to real property by occupying it for a period of time. Prescription is not the same, however, because title acquired under it is presumed to have resulted from a lost grant, as opposed to the expiration of the statutory time limit in adverse possession. usucapione, prescrizione acquisitiva(non possesso della controparte, o lesione del possesso o simili)

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