"That's another pair of sleeves" is a colorful expression that we use in Italian to describe something that is about a completely different thing with no connection to a previous one. The expression comes from the Medieval and Renaissance use of interchangeable sleeves in men's and women's dress in particular.
In Europe, British English provides the expression: "That's a different kettle of fish", while French and other European languages use the idiomatic expression with the sleeves. Other English sayings that are similar to "That's another pair of sleeves" are: "It's a whole new ballgame", "That's a horse of a different color" or simply "It's another thing" and "It's something else", where the else in this idiom means "other than ordinary."
For us in Italy "That's another pair of sleeves" is the expression that to us makes more sense of all the above translations. The reason is that most of the time we use idiomatic expressions by way of tradition without being aware of where they come from. We feel comfortable with using these expressions that our ancestors have used before we did.
We learn idiomatic expressions from our grandparents, our parents, and our community. As idiomatic expressions are often related to arts and history, they can be thoroughly understood only by researching the expression's origin. However, we fully understand what we say without going into the etymology of it. It's the use of the idiom that tells us it is the correct thing to say.
For us in Italy "That's another pair of sleeves" has a positive connotation, probably coming from the beauty of the example it is related to. In terms of comparison of the two things we are mentioning, the second term of comparison is way better than the first one, the best of the two, the right thing.
The interchangeable sleeve tradition in the Renaissance was also part of the lover's cup tradition of giving an engagement token of love to one's beloved for their wedding. Interchangeable sleeves could be so valuable that they were kept in safes.
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| Agnolo Bronzino, Maria di Cosimo I de' Medici, 1551, Uffizi Gallery, Florence |
For us in Italy "That's another pair of sleeves" is the expression that to us makes more sense of all the above translations. The reason is that most of the time we use idiomatic expressions by way of tradition without being aware of where they come from. We feel comfortable with using these expressions that our ancestors have used before we did.
We learn idiomatic expressions from our grandparents, our parents, and our community. As idiomatic expressions are often related to arts and history, they can be thoroughly understood only by researching the expression's origin. However, we fully understand what we say without going into the etymology of it. It's the use of the idiom that tells us it is the correct thing to say.
For us in Italy "That's another pair of sleeves" has a positive connotation, probably coming from the beauty of the example it is related to. In terms of comparison of the two things we are mentioning, the second term of comparison is way better than the first one, the best of the two, the right thing.
The interchangeable sleeve tradition in the Renaissance was also part of the lover's cup tradition of giving an engagement token of love to one's beloved for their wedding. Interchangeable sleeves could be so valuable that they were kept in safes.
FRIENDS OF CAMA
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