translation question

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Douglas Taylor wrote:

> Without having good canonical resources around (like, say, a Louis
> L'Amour novel translated into Russian), I would hazard the guess that
> a reasonable construction (one that conveys the meaning, but does not
> necessarily exist) could be made using some variant of khapat' or
> spizhdit' with the noun padlo - since this relies on slang, it would
> probably illustrate the idiomatic/uneducated flavor as well as the
> actual intent.

I would also point out that the English phrase, ironically, has a
disguised element of bigotry -- as if the Indians were known to be
untrustworthy (cf. "Indian summer"). Given the history of this country's
treaties with the Native Americans, I wonder where *we* get off calling
*them* names...

Of course, most modern speakers are probably unaware of this, just as
they are unaware of the bigotry inherent in such phrases as "to jew
down," "dutch courage," etc.

In the best of all possible translations, we would be able to
incorporate a similar element in the Russian. But perhaps that's too
much to hope for.

--
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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