Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Italian term or phrase:
A loro totale insaputa
English translation:
entirely/completely without their knowing
- The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2009-06-28 15:54:44 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Italian term
A loro totale insaputa
Grazie
Proposed translations
Germany
Par Excellence Translations
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: German to English, French to English, Italian to English, and 3 more.
entirely/completely without their knowing
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2009-06-25 09:29:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
"totally unbeknownst to them" also a possibility
| agree |
Fiona Grace Peterson
: Good suggestion, Colin :-)
1 min
|
|
Thanks!
|
|
| agree |
HATEM EL HADARY
: yes I agree
3 mins
|
|
Thank you!
|
|
| agree |
Ivana UK
: I know the Italian says 'completa insaputa' but I'd probably skip the 'totale' bit when translating into EN - without their knowing is what I'd say
34 mins
|
|
Thanks!
|
Italy
Just what the doctor ordered
Native in: English (Variant: UK)
Works in: Italian to English
completely unknown to them
Your idea would work too :-)
| agree |
Giuseppe Bellone
: Didn't notice yours, sorry. Probably one second later.:)
1 min
|
| agree |
James (Jim) Davis
: Hi Fiona, what I would have put.
1 min
|
| agree |
Rachel Fell
: I nearly answered in the same way...
1 hr
|
Italy
Anything worth doing is worth doing well
Native in: Italian
Works in: English to Italian, French to Italian
completely unknown to them
Italy
Texts with zest by a Chartered Linguist
Native in: English (Variants: British, UK)
Works in: Italian to English, English
entirely without their knowledge
taking you there, in the right language!
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, Italian to English, English to Spanish, and 1 more.
unbeknownst to them
unbeknownst to them
a group of people who, unbeknownst to them, are collectively carrying out a specific, common, task.
| agree |
Tom in London
: I would add "completely" unbeknownst to them
5 mins
|
| agree |
Susanna Garcia
: yes, with completely
10 mins
|
| neutral |
Colin Rowe
: or "totally" as above...
17 mins
|
| agree |
SYLVY75
2 hrs
|
Austria
more than thirty years of experience
Native in: German
Works in: Greek to German, English to German, Greek to English, and 5 more.
(they had acted) in absolute ignorance
usually the term a mia insaputa means that somebody else had done sth. without my knowing about it. but here it is not clear whether <loro> refers to the subject or not.
Italy
Experienced translator: from Law to Lit.
Native in: English , Italian
Works in: Italian to English, English to Italian, French to English, and 1 more.
something they were completely in the dark about/had no idea about
Discussion
Thank you for helping me,
Eliana