An interesting issue of translate equivalence
Alina Israeli
aisrael at AMERICAN.EDU
Fri Jan 13 20:55:07 UTC 2012
Fortunately, I have Cassell's Dictionary of Slang handy to tell me that
pants [late 19C-1910s; 1990s+] means nonsense, rubbish; as an adj.
second-rate, inferior.
I would suggest in this particular case: его игра ни в какие ворота не
лезет.
On Jan 13, 2012, at 10:57 AM, John Dunn wrote:
> Occasionally the reporting of foreign news stories can throw up some
> interesting issues relating to equivalence in translation. The site
> newsru.com today reports the unimpressed reaction of one British
> commentator to the news that Andrei Arshavin, the captain of the
> Russian national football team, who also plies his trade in London
> with Arsenal FC, has been elected Russia's sportsperson of the year
> for 2011. In Russian translation this reads as follows:
>
> "Может быть, я действительно чего-то не понимаю, но полагаю, что
> даже самые предвзятые фанаты "Арсенала" согласятся с тем, что за
> недавние пару лет игра Андрея Аршавина в составе канониров не
> выдерживает никакой критики." [http://www.newsru.com/sport/13jan2012/imp.html
> ]
>
> A handily-placed link directs us to the original:
>
> 'Maybe we are all missing something here, but even the most strident
> Arsenal fan will admit that Andrei Arshavin’s performances for the
> club, over the past year or so, have been utter pants.' [http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/arsenal/105284/russian-sport-hits-new-low-andrei-arshavin-voted-athlete-of-the-year.html
> ]
>
> Well, it does sort of convey the idea, and I am not sure I want to
> imagine the versions that might have conjured up by someone less
> attuned to the niceties of British slang.
>
> John Dunn.
>
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Alina Israeli
Associate Professor of Russian
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington DC 20016
(202) 885-2387 fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu
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