mettere in chiaro

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to put in clear”. Compare French mettre au clair.

Verb

méttere in chiaro (first-person singular present métto in chiaro, first-person singular past historic mìsi in chiaro, past participle mésso in chiaro, auxiliary avére)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) to make clear
   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 10, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     E benché adorasse le nipoti al punto da anticipare il pensionamento per aiutare Michelle ad accudirle nelle fasi calde della campagna elettorale, aveva messo in chiaro che non si sarebbe trattenuta in casa nostra (nemmeno per cena) una volta eseguito il suo compito.

     And although she adored her grandchildren and had agreed to retire early to help Michelle look after the girls once the campaign heated up, she had always made a point of not hanging around our Chicago home or staying for dinner once her work was done.

     (literally, “And although she adored her granddaughters to the point that she anticipated retirement to help Michelle take care of them in the hot phases of the electoral campaign, she had made clear that she would not have kept herself in our house (not even for dinner) once she had executed her task.”)