What does “Menare il can per l'aia” mean?
Menare il can per l'aia
Word for word
To walk the dog around the threshing floor
What it really means
To stall, to go round and round without getting to the point. Used for someone dodging an answer to avoid deciding anything.
How we say it in English
To beat around the bush
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In bocca al lupo
Break a leg — and, like "break a leg", you never answer with "thank you"
Prendere due piccioni con una fava
To kill two birds with one stone
Avere una fame da lupi
To be so hungry you could eat a horse
Essere una gatta da pelare
A thankless task — or, closer to the tone, a real headache
Campa cavallo che l'erba cresce
Don't hold your breath
Prendere un granchio
To bark up the wrong tree — or to get the wrong end of the stick