two questions in the translation realm

[Ruby J. Jones]

Sorry to be so late to the table, but what about the old saw, "to curse a 
blue streak"? It seems to cover the abundance and richness of the original, 
in spite of the fact that "mat'" doesn't necessarily appear in the 
utterance.
Ruby J. Jones
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas 78713
(512) 471-3607 [work] / (512) 441-1277 [home]
rubyj at mail.utexas.edu

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kenneth Brostrom" <ad5537 at WAYNE.EDU>
To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 5:05 AM
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] two questions in the translation realm


> >Dear Seelangers!
>>I am working on some translations from Ukrainian into English for my 
>>Master's Thesis at UNL. Hilda Raz and Mila Saskova-Pierce suggested I post 
>>my questions here:
>>
>>1) a technical question: how do you translate the verb "materit'sia" (to 
>>curse in the uniquely Russian manner) into English? I have a good 
>>dictionary, but it has very proper sensibilities....
>>
>
>
> I think this question depends upon context.  A very recent response to 
> this question from Birmingham, England suggested a phrase that would be 
> meaningless to Americans.  If I might return to the ancient past, I spent 
> some time in the late sixties discussing translation with my mentor at 
> Oxford, the memorable Max Hayward.  We talked about many details of what 
> is commonly known as the mid-Atlantic style.
>
> In translation, context is everything.  If you are looking for an English 
> equivalent of this verb that includes the notion of the mother, and that 
> lexicographers would accept, you have a problem. However, in particular 
> contexts, African American English (a culture that values the mother in 
> terms comparable to the Russian tradition) has expressions that you might 
> use, and they would be understood immediately by every native speaker of 
> English.
>
> Ken Brostrom
>
>
> -- 
> Kenneth Brostrom, Assoc. Prof. of Russian
> Dept. of German and Slavic Studies
> 443 Manoogian Hall
> Wayne State University
> Detroit, MI 48202
> email: kenneth.brostrom at wayne.edu
> telephone: 313-577-6238
>
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