translation help

[Melissa Smith]

 Dear Sasha:

I need to put on my thinking cap a bit, but I wanted to share a 
conversation I had with the writer, Liudmila Petrushevskay over what 
was meant by the phrase, "handicapped accessible." When I tried to 
explain this necessary feature in my own life, she responded: "Ah! 
politicheskaia korrektnost' dlia invalidov." This may not be helpful 
for your translation purposes, but Petrushevskay always "tells it like 
it is."

In your first example, the "vinegret," it would seem to be a reference 
to the skin condition rosacea. Maybe a different fruit or vegetable 
would be appropriate: strawberry shortcake? In any case, Americans 
never refer to "beetroot." It's "beets" (red) vs. "beet greens."

A fisherman would be the best to deal with the boot issue.

Melissa Smith

On 3/2/10 12:46 PM, Sasha Spektor wrote:
> Dear Seelangs' users,
> My friend and I are in the process of translating Anatoly Gavrilov and 
we
> came upon some Soviet realia, which appear difficult to translate.  
I'd like
> to ask your help on these two:
> 
> "человек..., опухшее, разбитое лицо которого похоже на блюдо с 
винегретом".
> 
> "железнодорожник в огромных кирзовых сапогах"
> 
> In the first the Russian beet salad (both in color and consistency) 
becomes
> crucial for the metaphoric effect, and the unfortunate absence of this 
salad
> in American cuisine makes its translation difficult.  So far we have
> "beetroot hodgepodge."
> 
> In the second it's the troublesome material of the boots.  "Tarpaulin
> boots?" "Canvas-topped boots?"  This wear is wide spread in Russia and 
one
> wants to give that impression.  So far we have "giant rubber boots."
> 
> Finally, there's word "invalid," which in Russian means a handicapped
> person, or a war veteran (if associated with "invalid voiny").  "A 
cripple"
> has negative characteristics, but "a veteran" doesn't necessarily 
encompass
> all kinds of "invalids" possible in today's Russia.
> 
> Much obliged for the help.  Please respond either on the list, or off 
the
> list at xrenovo at gmail.com.
> 
> Thank you,
> Sasha.
> 
> 
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------------------------------------

Melissa T. Smith, Professor
Department of Foreign Languages and 
Literatures  
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, OH 44555
Tel: (330)941-3462

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