coprire le spalle

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to cover the shoulders”.

Verb

coprìre le spalle (first-person singular present còpro le spalle, first-person singular past historic coprìi le spalle or copèrsi le spalle, past participle copèrto le spalle, auxiliary avére)

1. (idiomatic) to have (someone's) back [with a ‘someone’]

   Synonyms: stare dalla propria parte, esserci per

   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 24, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     Tuttavia, non potevo fare a meno di provare un po' di tristezza...: avrei avuto intorno ancora meno persone che... non avevano mai smesso di coprirmi le spalle.

     Still, I couldn't help feeling a little melancholy...: I'd be surrounded by even fewer people who'd... never stopped having my back.

     (literally, “Still, I could not help but feel a bit sad...: I would have had even fewer people around me who... had never stopped having my back.”)