Thread: Is this really genuine..."In the USSR we don't have sex"

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Originally Posted by alexB

Мёртвым бы этого ублюдка в петлю сунул! Гоблина, то есть.

Does this mean "I want to hang that bastard!"? (I didn't know the word петля, but my dictionary says that "noose" is one of the possible meanings.")

Given a chance, I’d hang him even if he were already dead just to make sure and for the mere pleasure of seeing him that way.

[quote=Throbert McGee]

Originally Posted by Ленивец":3d2amo6r]The barrack scene from the Full Metal Jacket translated by Goblin

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_5d7PROOQM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_5d7PROOQM[/url]

This may be a useful instrument for learning certain depths of the Russian language

Здорово! But I wish it had Russian subtitles... the Russian comes so fast that it's difficult to understand some of the words, even though I'm very familiar with the original English. What word is he using to translate "maggots"?[/quote:3d2amo6r]
It's changed to "девчонки" which would be used in such situation. Probably there're subs - I'll look in the video I have at home.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Здорово! But I wish it had Russian subtitles...

http://subs.com.ru/page.php?id=3210

but they're "diluted"...

Originally Posted by ac220

Мнит себя великим переводчиком, хотя таковым не является, просто удачно перевёл несколько фильмов про "криминал" благодаря своим специальным знаниям, и пошёл этот стиль лепить к месту и не к месту.

Мне нравится как он перевел "For a few dollars more", там никакого криминала и мата. Опять же "13-й воин", "Нечто"...

Гоблин хорошо перевёл "Властелин колец". Этот занудный фильм стал поживее.
Goblin translated "The Lord of the Rings" well. This draggy film became way more lively.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Well, that's just silly! Я сам абсолютно уверен, что мои родители занимались сексом, как минимум, дважды -- ведь я есть, а у меня лишь одна младшая сестра, и братьев нету!

(А если происходилось, на самом деле, что моя мама с папой так занимались больше двух раз, тогда STFU!!, про это я не буду ни слышать и ни думать! Where's the brain-bleach?!)

Любой хорошо воспитанный советский ребёнок знал, что детей приносит аист (stork) или их покупают в магазине. Его папа и мама не могут заниматься мерзостью, которую развращённые США пропагандирует среди советских людей. По крайней мере, знал в определённом возрасте.

Может, у меня только такая семья продвинутая была, но на вопрос: "Откуда я взялся", мне сразу сказали, что меня мама родила. Я поначалу, признаюсь, долго не мог этого осмыслить, но потом мне показали на беременную тётю и я как-то всё сразу понял. Подробностей я конечно тогда не знал, но мне этого и не надо было в то время.

Помнится, у нас в школе чья-то мама выступила с добровольным предложением провести с нами, девочками, просветительную беседу по этому вопросу. Было нам лет по 11 (может, меньше, но точно не больше, потому что я потом перешла в другую школу). Так вот, выходя с ее "лекции", моя подружка мне сказала: "НЕ МОЖЕТ БЫТЬ, чтобы мужчина и женщина делали это сознательно. Я думаю, что они ложатся вместе в постель и засыпают, а остальное происходит с ними во сне, само собой. И они не осознают, что происходит с их телами. Потому что... ну НЕ МОЖЕТ БЫТЬ!"

Originally Posted by alexB

Given a chance, I’d hang him even if he were already dead just to make sure and for the mere pleasure of seeing him that way.

Dearest alexB... if I ever get back to writing my book.. please my love, my I steal that line?
I am not certain if I should have Dmitri say that in Russian or Valentina in English!

Jazz, for you, anything! There’s one catch though. I can’t fully take credit for inventing the phrase.
On second thought I can, a little, for the English version, for it differs from the Russian one, which I regret to say has definitely been voiced before me in a movie, don’t remember in which one.

Originally Posted by Оля

...Было нам лет по 11 (может, меньше, но точно не больше, потому что я потом перешла в другую школу). Так вот, выходя с ее "лекции", моя подружка мне сказала: "НЕ МОЖЕТ БЫТЬ, чтобы мужчина и женщина делали это сознательно. Я думаю, что они ложатся вместе в постель и засыпают, а остальное происходит с ними во сне, само собой. И они не осознают, что происходит с их телами". ...

Считаю такую точку зрения абсолютно верной. Уверен, что секс случается очень часто именно потому, что люди не осознают, что происходит с их телами (по крайней мере в первый раз).

Originally Posted by ac220

Yes and no. I've definitely watched that show, but I was a kid of 8 or 7 back then, so my recollections of the details are vague and (EDIT: may or may not be) based on later second-hand retelling.
[...]
The show was called "Telebridge" or something like that the host was Vladimir Pozner.

OMG, I missed a thread about Telebridges and Vladimir Pozner! This was a man who turned me into a cynic (or at least nudged me this way). Grrr...

I remember watching these telebridges when I was about 11 (I missed the one about sex, though). The future seemed uncertain, but there was an excitement in the air, we and American were friends now! I was waiting for something good to happen (what happened were 90's ), but I wanted to tell about another Telebridges episode.

Some American asked Pozner "Is it true, that there's only one newspaper in the USSR, "The Truth"?". I remember waiting eagerly for Pozner's answer ("Ha, tell them! We have loads of papers! Sport papers, literature papers, papers for kids, medics, teachers, local papers..) Pozner hesitated for a moment (I started to have a bad feeling about his answer), then smiling like a crazy android he said: "Well, there are a few, but they are all the same, so you can say that there's only one".

That was one of the worst dissapointments in my life. Not only the man lied, or, to be exact, manipulated the truth (I was indignant), but he was groveling, artfully, telling people what they wanted to hear.

EDIT: I deleted a part of my ramblings which strayed too much from the subject.

Pozner is a typical cosmopolite, a man who follows the principle "ubi bene, ibi patria". He was propaganding for many years the values of Soviet socialism and Marxim-Leninism on Inovestchanie channel, but having a very sensitive @$$, he'd quckly realized the direction there the wind blows at the beginning of Perestroyka and suddenly became a loyal supporter of USA and a heavy critic of all the things he was propaganding just a couple of years before that. I don't like Lenin and all that he had done to my country at all, but I think his expression "a political prostitute" (about Trotsky) perfectly fits that Pozner dude.

EDIT: I deleted a part of my ramblings that strayed too much from the subject.

Which относит определение (strayed...) ко всему главному предложению, а that - только к дополнению (a part).

Like:
I like potatoes, which is not bad.
Я люблю картошку, что неплохо.

I like potatoes, that is not bad.
Я люблю картошку, "которая неплохая".

OMG, I missed the thread about Telebridges and Vladimir Pozner!

Если в тексте есть определение для thread, (оно есть в тексте - about...), значит надо the.

И насчёт "a part" у меня сомнения, м.б. some part.
Блин, как было бы просто если бы англичане/американцы исправляли нас почаще. :-Z

I could correct Eugene-p in either of two ways --

Either:

I like potatoes, which is not bad.
Я люблю картошку, что неплохо.

I like potatoes[s:l6bn9gfk],[/s:l6bn9gfk]_ that [s:l6bn9gfk]is[/s:l6bn9gfk] are not bad.
Я люблю картошку, "которая неплохая".

Or:

I like [s:l6bn9gfk]potatoes[/s:l6bn9gfk] caviar, which is not bad.
Я люблю [s:l6bn9gfk]картошку[/s:l6bn9gfk] икру, что неплохо.

I like [s:l6bn9gfk]potatoes[/s:l6bn9gfk] caviar[s:l6bn9gfk],[/s:l6bn9gfk]_ that is not bad.
Я люблю [s:l6bn9gfk]картошку[/s:l6bn9gfk] икру, "которая неплохая".

Potatoes are "count" nouns, not "mass" nouns, in English -- even when mashed into a mass! ("Mashed potatoes ARE delicious," although they are no longer countable!)

P.S. When in doubt about whether to say "which" or "that" -- say "that." 50% of the time you'll be wrong, but 99% of native speakers won't notice the mistake.

P.P.S. When in doubt about whether to say "to lie" (в смысле "лежать" или "ложиться") or "to lay" (в смысле "класть, положить"), you should use "to lay." Again, half the time you'll be using the incorrect form, but the mistake will be "invisible" to native speakers, because we often confuse these verbs ourselves, and when we get confused, we confuse them in favor of "to lay." Thus, you can say "I'm going to lay down" or "She was laying on the bed" -- pedantically speaking, both sentences are ungrammatical, but you can use them in speech and even in writing without sounding "foreign."

P.P.P.S. Alas for ESL learners, native speakers almost never make mistakes with the articles "a" and "the"!

I could correct Eugene-p in either of two ways --

Thank you, ThRobert! Great explanation.

"I like potatoes that are not bad." - is what I meant.
Вот так лоханулся, Хехехе.

Thanks, guys! Ну вот, только выдрессировали меня говорить which вместо that, как придется переучиваться обратно.

P.S. When in doubt about whether to say "which" or "that" -- say "that." 50% of the time you'll be wrong, but 99% of native speakers won't notice the mistake.

P.P.S. When in doubt about whether to say "to lie" (в смысле "лежать" или "ложиться") or "to lay" (в смысле "класть, положить"), you should use "to lay." Again, half the time you'll be using the incorrect form, but the mistake will be "invisible" to native speakers, because we often confuse these verbs ourselves, and when we get confused, we confuse them in favor of "to lay."

Очень интересно! Жаль, что такие вещи не пишут в учебниках. Должны же мы быть в курсе.

PS. Eugene-p, если хочешь, чтобы тебя поправляли, напиши это в подписи. Обычно действует.

PS. Eugene-p, если хочешь, чтобы тебя поправляли, напиши это в подписи. Обычно действует.

Верю. Надеюсь. Жду.

Originally Posted by Basil77

I don't like Lenin and all that he had done to my country at all, but I think his expression "a political prostitute" (about Trotsky) perfectly fits that Pozner dude.

+1
It's sad that people like this are considered "experts" on Russian life and form (or better to say solidify) public opinion.

"Political prostitute" is a good word and some people are exactly that! I just can't stand hippocrates like this: It's fine to have strong political opinions, and it's fine not to have them too. They problem (I think) is when people lye about it!

Most political opinions have some merits. I respect anyone who holds down a political conviction on ideological (as opposed to egoistical) grounds. Doesn't matter what ideology it is, as long as they are genuine and well-meaning people who want to change the world for the better.

But it's sickening to hear people who lye about their previous political associations, even when their affiliations are public knowledge! (I am speaking about my own country now, but I bet this is even more true about Russia!) It's incredible that people actually vote for politicians who can't even be truthful about their own ideological beliefs, past or present. Why should anyone believe what they say about the future when they lye about their own past!

I don't know anything about Trotsky or why he was accused of being a political prostitute, but the expression is good.