What does “Essere la pecora nera” mean?
Essere la pecora nera
Word for word
To be the black sheep
What it really means
To be the one who stands out from the group, almost always within a family. Used half seriously, half as a joke.
How we say it in English
To be the black sheep — the same animal, the same color
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Create a free accountOther Italian idioms
Essere al verde
To be broke — and note English money idioms run the other way: to be in the red is to be in debt, while green means money
Passare una notte in bianco
Not to sleep a wink
In quattro e quattr'otto
In no time flat — or in the blink of an eye
Avere una fifa blu
To be scared stiff
Lavorare in nero
To work off the books — or under the table
In bocca al lupo
Break a leg — and, like "break a leg", you never answer with "thank you"