Relocution » Russian affairs

More translation perils

Richard — Sat, 12 May 2007 16:25:44 +0000

Thanks Gareth for alerting us to the Guardian story of Burton’s chic (sic) T-shirt with its trendy design proclaiming “ÐžÑ‡Ð¸ÑÑ‚Ð¸Ð¼ Ð ÑƒÑÑŒ Ð¾Ñ‚ Ð²ÑÐµÑ… Ð½ÐµÑ€ÑƒÑÑÐºÐ¸Ñ…!”. The store’s buyers were told that this translated loosely as “Be proud of Russia”.

Sometimes, of course, loose translations aren’t good enough. A better translation might be: “Let’s cleanse Russia of all non-Russians”.

If you want one alas it’s too late: they’ve been withdrawn from sale. Burton’s buyers will spend the weekend writing out 100 times: “My hovercraft is full of eels”.

Liverpool-grad

Olya — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:30:17 +0000

A report in London Info – a weekly newspaper for Russian community – this week highlights the Beatles Experience in Liverpool, and is particularly pleased to discover its audioguide, in Russian! It’s nice to have one’s work appreciated!

Customer service, Soviet-style

Richard — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 21:37:54 +0000

I was entertained by the first instalment of Lost Cosmonaut, which is being serialised on Radio 4. I sympathise with his description of buying a railway ticket at a Russian railway station. I’ve probably only done it once, when we went from Petersburg to Novgorod – or at least I watched Olya doing it – with aplomb, naturally! But once is enough.

‘What do you want?’ she demanded.
I stammered out a request for two tickets to Kazan.
‘When?’
‘Tomorrow?’
‘Not possible,’ she said.
‘Why?’
‘I don’t have information about those trains.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I don’t have any information about trains to Kazan leaving
tomorrow.’
‘But this is where you buy tickets for Kazan.’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, when will you have the information?’
‘Tomorrow. Come back tomorrow.’
‘But I want to go tomorrow.’
‘I know. So come back tomorrow. NEXT!’

From Lost Cosmonaut by Dan Kalder. An extract from the book is available online at the Faber website in PDF format.

I don’t think I liked the rest of the book, as read, as much, but I did like the theme tune. It didn’t take long to track it down, it is ? ????????? ?????? by the Red Elvises – from their 1999 album “Russian Bellydance”! You can listen to it here, look for “Cosmonaut Petrov”! (There is a version in English too, called Roketman, but it loses something, ?? ????? ??????…)

They’re playing in Brighton in April!

Ð¡ Ð´Ð½Ñ‘Ð¼ Ñ€Ð¾Ð¶Ð´ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ â€¦ Ð¼ÐµÐ½Ñ!

Richard — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:58:03 +0000

? ???? ???????? …

Thank you Olya, for my new Soviet calendar. What better day than my birthday, to read all about the balalaika, Ð½Ð° Ñ€ÑƒÑÑÐºÐ¾Ð¼ ÑÐ·Ñ‹ÐºÐµ – and celebrate the birthday in 1723 of proto-Marxist Baron Holbach

Ð‘Ð°Ð»Ð°Ð»Ð°Ð¹ÐºÐ° Ñƒ Ñ€ÑƒÑÑÐºÐ¾Ð³Ð¾ â€¦ ÐºÐ°Ðº Ð¼Ð°Ð½Ð´Ð¾Ð»Ð¸Ð½Ð° Ñƒ Ð¸Ñ‚Ð°Ð»ÑŒÑÐ½Ñ†Ð°, Ð³Ð¸Ñ‚Ð°Ñ€Ð° Ñƒ Ð¸ÑÐ¿Ð°Ð½Ñ†Ð°, Ð±Ð°Ð½Ð´Ð¶Ð¾ Ñƒ Ð°Ð¼ÐµÑ€Ð¸ÐºÐ°Ð½ÑÐºÐ¾Ð³Ð¾ Ð½ÐµÐ³Ñ€Ð°..

Old-world style almanacs and miscellanies are all the rage again these days: maybe someone should set about translating one of these in time for 2007.

Soviet nostalgia is just nostalgia for our own past. The fondly remembered artefacts of our own recent past are not so different. The past just lasted a bit longer in the Soviet Union!

Great songs from the Soviet past

Richard — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 12:28:43 +0000

There are more than a few interesting links at the mighty SovLit.com website. One such is Great songs from the soviet past, which even includes a couple of Beatles songs in Russian. From there, we can also find our way to another collection of Russian music in MP3 format, at ??????????. Must have a listen to this stuff one day.

Favourite things

Richard — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 21:17:48 +0000

I haven’t tasted anything as more-ish for a long time, as these cranberries in a sugar shell. They are made by ÐšÐ¾Ð½Ð´Ð¸Ñ‚ÐµÑ€ÑÐºÐ°Ñ Ñ„Ð°Ð±Ñ€Ð¸ÐºÐ° â€œÐ£Ð´Ð°Ñ€Ð½Ð¸Ñ†Ð°â€, ÑƒÐ». Ð¨Ð°Ð±Ð¾Ð»Ð¾Ð²ÐºÐ° 13, Moscow, and if anyone can tell me how to get hold of them in London I’ll be forever in your debt. Come on Fabrika Udarnitsa, start shipping them to England: I’ll eat all you can send!

Maxwell House

Richard — Thu, 05 Aug 2004 16:39:51 +0000

Here’s a link to Max’s Blog. I particularly enjoyed
the picture of him discussing his new front door with, uh, himself. Now that’s what I call Quadrophenia.

Ð’Ð¸Ð½Ð½Ð¸ ÐŸÑƒÑ…

Richard — Wed, 06 Aug 2003 09:56:24 +0000

Who’s this little fellow? You probably know him in a different guise: it’s Winnie The Pooh in Russian. He
certainly doesn’t look much like anything out of Disney, nor the original Shepard drawings. He was created by
Fyodor Khitruk in 1969 for the Soviet animation company Soyuzmultfilm
in 1969. The stroies are essentially the same; there’s no Tigger or Christopher Robin, for example, in the
Soviet version, but essentials like Eeeyore’s birthday and trouble with bees, are all there. If you’ve got Flash
installed, see if you can get this Shockwave animation to work.

Bears, of course, are very special to Russians, but even so I was surprised to find just how well-known Vinni Puh
is. His image is slowly being ousted by the Disney animations, but he’s still popular. The affection in which
this and many other Soyuzmultfilm cartoons are held is at least on a par with our feelings for the wonderful
works of Mr Postgate and friends.