Proxodnoy

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Steve Marder wrote:

 > Dear Seelangers,
 >
 > Could anyone provide a convincing English rendering for the word
 > "proxodnoy" in a sports context, e.g., proxodnaya igra (vstrecha),
 > proxodnoy match, proxodnoy poedinok?

This word's meaning seems to depend much more than most on context.

At least in some contexts, it seems to be a "meaningless game." For
example, at <http://www.fcalania.ru/proekts/on-line/press/onopko1.shtml>
the star player is interviewed after an important victory, and we see 
this exchange:

-- Каков ваш секрет столь стабильной игры на всех уровнях? Неужели для
вас не существует понятия "проходной матч"? (ВВВ, Москва)
-- Для меня все игры важны, будь то за сборную или клуб. Нужно одинако
готовиться ко всем без исключения играм.

In English, the term "meaningless game" is used when one or both teams
have nothing to gain or lose by playing the game. For example, if one
team has clinched a spot in the playoffs, it has nothing to play for
until the playoffs start. A game can thus be meaningless for one team
but meaningful -- even critical -- for the other, which might still be
fighting for a playoff spot. By the same token, a team that has been
mathematically eliminated from contention has nothing to play for, and
the game would be meaningless for it.

On the other hand, it also appears to mean a "walkover," a "cakewalk." 
See, for example, <http://premier.region35.ru/gazeta/t/np198/1s.shtml>:

Еще более закономерным был исход решающего поединка, который и 
поединком-то назвать трудно. Для наших девушек это был проходной матч -- 
у них в игре проходило почти все. Все та же чудо -- тройка вела свою 
команду вперед (Калмыкова -- 24 очка, Пименова -- 22, Тутуева -- 15). 
Забрасывая в каждом из первых трех периодов по 31 очку (31:15, 31:22, 
31:17), "чевакатки" в заключительной десятиминутке сбавили обороты 
(17:25) - доигрывала молодежь.

And of course, in the sense of a game that gets you through to the next 
round, perhaps "qualifying game" could work, though  baseball does speak 
of "clinching" a playoff spot.

"Проходной балл" would be a "passing (qualifying) score" (as on an 
entrance exam), and a "проходная пешка" is a "passed pawn."

-- 
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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