tirare le somme
Italian
Etymology
Literally, “to draw the sums”.
Verb
tiràre le somme (first-person singular present tìro le somme, first-person singular past historic tirài le somme, past participle tiràto le somme, auxiliary avére) (intransitive)
- to sum up
- (figuratively, by extension, idiomatic) to draw conclusions [+ di (someone/something) = about]
- mi prese per un cretino, ma son riuscito a tirare le somme
- he took me for an idiot, but I was able to put two and two together
- 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 9, in Chicca Galli; Paolo Lucca; Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:
- Mi domandai se avesse avuto modo di guardarsi indietro e tirare le somme della sua vita, o se per lei questo sarebbe stato segno di debolezza.
- I wondered if she'd been able to look back and take stock, or whether she’d consider that too much of an indulgence.
- (literally, “I wondered if she had a way to look back and draw conclusions on her life, or if for her this would have been a sign of weakness.”)