An interesting issue of translate equivalence

[Nafpaktitis, Margarita]

A friend of mine assures me that "mustard" is the opposite of pants. 

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Alina Israeli
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 12:55 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] An interesting issue of translate equivalence

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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