Un ponte di troppo

Question

How would you translate into English the following phrase?Un ponte di troppoThank you

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I don't know Italian, but it looks like "one bridge too many". It made me think of that war movie A Bridge Too Far, but it appears they translate that Quell'ultimo ponte.

CalifJim · Answer

teal lime
How would you translate into English the following phrase?
Un ponte di troppo
Thank you

It might depend on context, but it's literally "one bridge too many".

I assume it's a metaphoric reference to a situation in which there is one step more than is reasonable in order to complete some kind of process. Or a reference to an action that someone cannot take or will not take because of his own fears or beliefs. In brief, it has to do with "going too far" in what you do or say.

In English we use "a bridge too far", and depending on context, that may be the better translation into English.

Overbearing surveillance is, in my opinion, a bridge too far.
(To subject people to the surveillance of every aspect of their lives is more than any government should do.)

Your appearance at the wedding reception was a bridge too far.
(Because of your previous relationship with the bride or groom, you should not have come to the wedding reception. It was unacceptable behavior.)

I'll let you interpret the next one for yourself.

When Ryanair, Europe's largest no-frills carrier, floated the idea of pay toilets on board last year, it prompted a storm of protest and late-night-TV jokes. Happily, the airline found it a bridge too far, and the idea is on hold.

CJ

Un ponte di troppo

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