Fwd: Teffi puns

[Peter Scotto]

How about:

-- We get two stations here, 'SovTeleCon" from Moscow, "UkanTelePhoney"
from Kiev.  And now our very own European - "TransTeleFunk."

(Maybe not so good.)

Peter Scotto


On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 1:23 PM, Eric NAIMAN <naiman at berkeley.edu> wrote:

> We've got two sources of communication:  Bullshevik Broadcasting from
> Moscow, and the Ukrainian Telegrapht. And we've got our own western,
> multinational program:  Eurology.
>
> Don't blame the messenger, or the perevodchik.
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 5, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Robert Chandler <kcf19 at dial.pipex.com>wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> Am asking this question because a friend has asked me to.  My own view is
>> that her solution is good and unlikely to be improved on.  But if anyone
>> can do better, we would all be delighted!
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> Robert
>>
>>
>> Can anyone help with translating some puns from Teffi's 'Que faire?'?
>>
>> This is Teffi's text:
>> - Да откуда же вы это узнали?
>> - Из радио. Нас обслуживают два радио - советское <<Соврадио>> и украинское
>> <<Украдио>>. И наше собственное первое европейское - <<Переврадио>>.
>>
>> Elegant, subtle. You almost don't notice they're puns till you get to the
>> end.
>>
>> This, I'm afraid, is the best I and some really good translators here
>> could come up with:
>> "Where on earth did you find all this out?"
>> "On the radio. We get two stations, Bullshevik Broadcasting from Moscow and
>> Radio Phoney from Kiev. And now we've got our own pan-European station -
>> Euro-garble News."
>>
>> As well as trying to find equivalent puns I've also tried various ways of
>> expressing the humour otherwise than in a pun, but couldn't find a solution.
>>
>> It's been delivered to the publisher, and the editor has come back
>> saying, quite correctly, that my version lowers the tone horribly.
>>
>> I don't have much time left and now I'm even thinking of simply
>> transliterating the radio stations and explaining the joke in a footnote --
>> but that would leave the story very flat at a point where it should really
>> be getting pretty wild.
>>
>> Does anyone have any ideas? Even a single pun? Or a different strategy?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD
>>
>>
>>
>>
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