Passare il segno in Italian
| Literal translation | To go past the mark |
| Meaning | To behave in an appropriate way |
| IPA pronunciation | /pasˈsaːre il ˈseɲɲo/ |
Passare il segno
To be out of line, to cross the line
Where does this come from? The mark is a boundary: when you “get past the mark”, it means you’ve crossed an invisible boundary of politeness (educazione) and you’re behaving in a socially inappropriate manner.
For example, you can say…
Ora hai davvero passato il segno. Smettila subito!
Now you have really gone too far. Stop it right now!
Mattia ha problemi di gestione della rabbia. Ha passato il segno.
Mattia has anger management issues. He has crossed the line.
➡️ Related lessons
- Passare (to pass)
- Segno (sign, mark)
- Definite articles
- All Italian expressions
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