When things just don't seem to ever work out for someone, we call them a "loser". The equivalent in Italian is "sfigato" or unlucky.
The first is part of the win/lose paradigm, the second acknowledges the role of fate.
a domani,
E
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- Elizabeth Abbot
- In Rome for over half my life, I have adapted, but continue to grow and strive to thrive. It is a process, but it can be fun. As a Coach and Cross-Cultural Trainer, I help international professionals, their spouses and their organizations move from survive to thrive. Living in a different cultural environment can be a catalyst for personal and professional progress
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- Italian Cultural Studies: an introduction, Editors: David Forgacs and Robert Lumley
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A few books to share on crossing into other cultures
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- Cultural Intelligence: People Skills for Global Business, David C. Thomas and Kerr Inkson
- Communicating Across Cultures, Stella Ting-Tooney
- American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Edward C. Stewart and Milton J. Bennett
- Figuring Foreigners Out, Craig Storti
- Cross-Cultural Dialogues, Craig Storti
- Riding the Waves of Culture, Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner
2 comments:
I actually hadn't thought of that!
Guess it's a way to take credit when we win...
But wash our hands and blame "luck" or "fate" (therefore, not us) when we loose...
Actually I have to give my son credit for this observation which he offered up at lunch yesterday for my blog.
We hold a culturally based belief that we can control our destiny, so if things don't work out, it is our fault and we are a "loser".
In cultures where the role of fate is given more space in the scheme of things, we can just be unlucky (sfigato). In any case, we can't control everything, much less our destiny.
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