opposite of an expression

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Sarah Hurst wrote:

> I’ve been trying to translate the following, referring to a chess 
> game:
> 
> Следующая партия показывает, что при проведении комбинации Ласкера 
> позицию чёрных "шапками не закидать"
> 
> I’ve found some explanation of the expression “Шапками закидаем” – eg
> here:
> 
> <http://www.otrezal.ru/catch-words/463.html>
> 
> - so that’s something you’d say to boast about your superiority – 
> “we’ll splatter your hats”?
> 
> And in the sentence does it mean that the black side’s position won’t
> get touched (by the opponent)? What’s a good way of putting this?
> 
> Thanks for any advice,

Lubensky gives the following for "шапками закидать":

шапками закидать /кого/ coll [VP; subj: human; usu. fut (1st pers pl 
закидаем or neg pfv fut, gener. 2nd pers sing не закидаешь); fixed WO] 
to defeat s.o. quickly and easily (usu. used when brazenly predicting a 
quick victory of s.o.): (мы Y-ов) шапками закидаем ≃ we'll bag an easy 
win over Ys; it's in the bag; we'll beat Ys all hollow; it's going to be 
a walkover; we'll win an easy victory over Ys; || Neg шапками Y-ов не 
закадаешь ≃ you won't get Ys that easily. [300 words of examples follow]

So I would say a phrase like "Black's position is impregnable" would be 
overstating things; rather, the author is stating the converse, that his 
position is not an easy nut to crack, it's no soft touch, etc.

FWIW, I've never in my life encountered the expression "to beat s.o. all 
hollow" -- must be a Britishism. And "side" as you've used it is 
distinctly British as well, so if that's your target dialect, have at 
it. But if your target is American, the negative of a negative ("it's 
not unthinkable..." etc.) is much less common here than in Britain.

-- 
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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