farsi in quattro

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to do oneself in four”. Compare French se plier en quatre.

Verb

fàrsi in quattro (first-person singular present mi fàccio in quattro, first-person singular past historic mi féci in quattro, past participle fàtto in quattro, first-person singular imperfect mi facévo in quattro, second-person singular imperative fàtti in quattro)

1. (idiomatic) to go out of one's way; to bend over backwards

   Synonyms: fare l'impossibile, darsi pena

   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 19, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     Era gente che sgobbava nell'anonimato, facendosi in quattro per trovare i soldi necessari a tenere a galla le organizzazioni e che raramente aveva l'occasione di viaggiare lontano dalla propria città natale, tanto meno su invito di un presidente degli Stati Uniti.

     They mostly toiled in obscurity, jostled for money to keep their operations afloat, and rarely had a chance to travel outside their home cities, much less do so at the invitation of a U.S. president.

     (literally, “They were people who slaved away in obscurity, bending over backwards to find the money necessary to keep the organizations afloat and who rarely had the occasion to travel far from their own birth cities, much less on the invitation of a United States president.”)