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ammotenditore
specchio
Oct 4, 2011 12:53
12 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Italian term

di media cultura

Italian to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters general
Anyone have a shorter but still polite version of: "with only a basic level of education?"
Proposed translations (English)
3 +2 the general public
4 +2 of average intelligence
4 +1 average level / medium level
3 +2 fairly educated person
3 average level
3 layman

Discussion

Danila Moro Oct 4, 2011:
@ Simon però ci vorrebbe il contesto! Dipende molto da dove l'espressione è inserita. Se per es. dico: "questo è comprensibile da una persona di media cultura", allora può andare bene ql tipo "the general public", ma se parlo di una persona in particolare e dico: "è un uomo di media cultura", ovviamente ci vuole un'altro traducende. Potrebbe essere fairly educated, ma bisogna che capire se dare alla cosa un accento più positivo o neutro. That's way the context is an absolute necessity!

Proposed translations

+2
47 mins
Selected

the general public

(with a bit of restructuring perhaps - e.g. for a typical member of the general public). I think the text is just referring to the average person's ability to understand whatever is being talked about and that this is a reasonable way of putting it, without risking the offence that references to people's intelligence or level of education could cause in more sensitive readers.
Peer comment(s):
agree William Murphy : Nailed it! Still above the 'great unwashed' and succinct too.
3 mins
agree Theodora OB
58 mins
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
12 mins

average level

HTH
Something went wrong...
+2
10 mins

of average intelligence

try this.

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Note added at 19 mins (2011-10-04 13:13:00 GMT)
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well - it's better than "as thick as two planks" or "not the sharpest knives in the drawer" or "two sandwiches short of a picnic"

:)
Note from asker:
Is that polite? They are presumably intelligent enough to understand this and be offended... :o)
Peer comment(s):
agree Lara Barnett
5 hrs
neutral Danila Moro : cultura (education) is not the same as intelligence
8 hrs
agree Amanda Jane Lowles
19 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
19 mins

average level / medium level

As Italian I understand "di media cultura" as medium or average level of education. Basic level is lower than "medio". And the level of education is not strictly linked to the level of intelligence.
Peer comment(s):
agree corallia
5 days
Something went wrong...
+2
1 hr

fairly educated person

it really depends on the context

e.g. Laws should be written in a language that any fairly educated person should be able to understand so we don't have to continually hire lawyers to interpret ...

in this case I would translate, ... una qualsiasi persona di media cultura
Peer comment(s):
agree Katharine Prucha
12 mins
thank you kpi
agree Vincenzo Di Maso : perfect
1 hr
grazie Vincenzo!
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

layman

It only works in certain contexts but this a decent way of saying, "for the non-expert." There is a reason it is hard to come up with a good phrase for this term and that is because it is often insulting to classify people by how cultured they are. Maybe avoid it if you can. I'm all for the "great unwashed" as a back-up. :)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Katharine Prucha : or "layperson"....
14 hrs
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