causa persa

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “lost cause”.

Noun

causa persa f (plural cause perse)

1. (idiomatic) lost cause
   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 12, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     Un cinismo profondo e soffocante aveva guadagnato sempre più terreno, e tra i consulenti politici di entrambi i partiti era ormai assiomatico che ristabilire la fiducia nel governo o in una qualsiasi delle istituzioni più importanti fosse una causa persa...

     Indeed, it became axiomatic among political consultants of both parties that restoring trust in the government or in any of our major institutions was a lost cause...

     (literally, “A profound and suffocating cynicism had gained ever more ground, and among political consultants of both parties it was by now axiomatic that reestablishing faith in the government or in any of our most important institutions was a lost cause...”)