translation question

[Josh Wilson]

On the subject of funny translations - a Russian friend forwarded me this as 
a joke email not too long ago:

A Beginning English-Russian Phrase Book

1. How do you do? - Kak ty eto delaesh?
2. All right! - Vce pravoi!
3. Copyright - Skopirovano prvilno
4. All Rights Reserved - Vce pravye zanyaty.
5. I'm fine. How are you? - U menya tonkii.  A u tebya?
6. What's up? - Chto sverkhu?
7. Let it be! - Davaite est' pchel!
8. Sleep well - Sonnyi Istochnik
9. Oh, dear! Not again! - Akh, tolko ne olen opyat!
10. I saw my honey today - Ya pilil moi med cegodnya
11. Finnish people - Knochenye lyudi
12. Let's have a party - Davaite organizuem partiyu
13. Watch out! - Posmotri snaruzhi!
14. I've just seen your balance sheet - Videl ya vash balans... tak sebe 
balans.... :)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Morley" <pete.morley at GMAIL.COM>
To: <SEELANGS at listserv.cuny.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2006 9:42 AM
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] translation question


> In this case - assuming its for a written translation and not just a 
> general
> vocab enquiry - I would suggest it would also be more than acceptable just
> to transliterate kormlenie, given that the explanation that follows is
> fairly comprehensive. This would solve the problem quite neatly, I would
> have thought.
>
> On the funny translations side, recent ones that spring to mind were
> "landing places" (for posadochniye mesta) and the persistent use of
> "refuelling" on a restaurant menu (for zapravka).
>
> PM
>
>
> On 23/03/06, Jack Kollmann <jack.kollmann at stanford.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Nancy,
>>
>>          I like "sustenance," although each time I turn to a translation
>> project, I find myself re-thinking (over-thinking?) how best to translate
>> something like this.
>>
>>          On the (different) subject of entertaining translation goofs,
>> look
>> up Benjamin Uroff's review article in Slavic Review (JSTOR), March 1969,
>> pp. 125-127, of a translated publication of a 1955 Soviet "History of
>> Russian Economic Thought:  Ninth Through Eighteenth Centuries," wherein
>> Uroff notes errors like "thoughtful clerk" for "dumnyi d'iak" (state
>> secretary) and "food money" for "pishchal'nye dengi" (taxes for the
>> purchase of firearms, "pishchali").  It's a fun read, and disturbing,
>> because we are all capable of committing slightly off dictionary
>> translations, false derivatives, anachronisms, etc.
>>
>> Jack Kollmann
>> Stanford University
>>
>>
>> At 05:54 PM 3/22/2006, you wrote:
>> >Jack, what about "sustenance"?
>> >
>> >Prof. Nancy Condee, Director
>> >Graduate Program for Cultural Studies
>> >2206 Posvar Hall
>> >University of Pittsburgh
>> >Pittsburgh, PA 15260
>> >412-624-7232
>> >
>> >
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
>> >[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Jack Kollmann
>> >Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 5:47 PM
>> >To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
>> >Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] translation question
>> >
>> >          Literally, "feeding," more descriptively, "provisioning,"
>> >"upkeep," "maintenance," "subsistence," "subsidy," "support."  There is
>> no
>> >single English word that covers the nuances of what "kormlenie" was as a
>> >system for the support of regional officials (namestniki, volosteli,
>> >voevody, etc.) in Muscovite times.  If "ruga" occurs (usually in
>> reference
>> >to priests) in the same text, the translator is faced with the challenge
>> of
>> >distinguishing the two practices -- similar, but not identical -- in
>> >English.
>> >
>> >          A translation is like a mistress:  if it's too pretty, it may
>> not
>> >be faithful; if it's faithful, it may not be very pretty.  Take your
>> pick,
>> >but surely the literal "feeding" for "kormlenie" is awkward.
>> >
>> >Jack Kollmann
>> >Stanford University
>> >
>> >
>> >At 09:47 AM 3/22/2006, you wrote:
>> > >Hello,
>> > >
>> > >what is the English term for the Russian "kormlenie"?
>> > >
>> > >("Kormlenie - oznachalo pervonachal'no sposob soderzhaniia
>> dolzhnostnykh
>> > >lits. Sud'i, vmeste s ispolniteliami ikh reshenii, poluchali ot
>> mestnogo
>> > >naseleniia vse neobkhodimoe dlia propitaniia kak ikh samikh, tak i 
>> > >slug
>> > >ikh i dazheloshadei. Eto byl tak nazyv. korm v nature.")
>> > >
>> > >Your help will be much appreciated!
>> > >Please reply off-list at tbuzina at yandex.ru.
>> > >
>> > >Thank you,
>> > >Tatyana
>> > >
>> > >--
>> > >Tatyana V. Buzina,
>> > >Associate Professor, Chair,
>> > >Dpt. of European Languages,
>> > >Institute for Linguistics,
>> > >Russian State U for the Humanities
>> > >
>> >
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