Thread: ghost writer

What is "ghost writer" in russian? - No, don't answer "гострайтр". How would you call the job of "ghost writing"?

There is something with "негр". For obvious reasons I don't like this word. Maybe we find s/th else.

Originally Posted by ingberlin

What is "ghost writer" in russian? - No, don't answer "гострайтр". How would you call the job of "ghost writing"?

There is something with "негр". For obvious reasons I don't like this word. Maybe we find s/th else.

Yes, they are usually called "(литературные) негры". I don't know any other common term. "Писатель-призрак" is rare, it's used as a direct translation from English.
By the way in Russian "негр" is not offensive or derogatory, so there's no reason "not to like" it. It's just a literary word.

Originally Posted by ingberlin

No, don't answer "гострайтр". How would you call the

It is "гострайтер". You can see it on different job sites etc, and it appears in some dictionaries. So, if you don't like both "гострайтер" and "негр", feel free to invent your own version of Russian language :P

Гострайтер is as bad as фрилансер. Somebody should turn his brain on and think of a better word to enrich the lexis of Russian...

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Гострайтер is as bad as фрилансер. Somebody should turn his brain on and think of a better word to enrich the lexis of Russian...

And as bad as инженер, шофёр, пилот, etc. etc.
Let's get rid of all loan words .

Не может быть. Это явление существовало у нас задолго до того, как англицизмы стали проявляться в русском языке, и, наверняка, как-то именовалось.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Это явление существовало у нас задолго до того, как англицизмы стали проявляться в русском языке, и, наверняка, как-то именовалось.

Неграми и именовалось.

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Гострайтер is as bad as фрилансер. Somebody should turn his brain on and think of a better word to enrich the lexis of Russian...

And as bas as инжинер, шофёр, пилот, etc. etc.
Let's get rid of all loan words .

The words you enumerated are more pleasant to hear and say then those polysyllable monsters twisting your tongue in a knot.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Не может быть. Это явление существовало у нас задолго до того, как англицизмы стали проявляться в русском языке, и, наверняка, как-то именовалось.

Официально - не существовало. Конечно, кто-то написал текст "Малой земли" для Брежнева. Но это никогда не официально не признавалось. А неофициально говорили "негр". Именно так.

Сейчас, когда об этом стали открыто, и вошло в употребение слово "гострайтер". Кому не нравится - можете попытаться ввести в употребление свой вариант. Только я сильно сомневаюсь, что его примут. Те литераторы и люди из окололитературной и издательской тусовки, которые имеют отношение к гострайтерству, уже используют слово "гострайтер".

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Гострайтер is as bad as фрилансер. Somebody should turn his brain on and think of a better word to enrich the lexis of Russian...

And as bas as инжинер, шофёр, пилот, etc. etc.
Let's get rid of all loan words .

The words you enumerated are more pleasant to hear and say then those polysyllable monsters twisting your tongue in a knot.

ОК, another example: синхрофазотрон. Oh, horror!

Google search:
литературный негр - 70,800
гострайтер - 245
писатель-призрак - 122

Делаем выводы.
("Негра" специально поставила без кавычек, чтобы учесть различные падежи. Но даже по отедльности каждый падеж в кавычках дает несколько тысяч результатов)

[quote=translations.nm.ru]

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Originally Posted by "translations.nm.ru":2jy012b7

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Гострайтер is as bad as фрилансер. Somebody should turn his brain on and think of a better word to enrich the lexis of Russian...

And as bas as инжинер, шофёр, пилот, etc. etc.
Let's get rid of all loan words .

The words you enumerated are more pleasant to hear and say then those polysyllable monsters twisting your tongue in a knot.

ОК, another example: синхрофазотрон. Oh, horror![/quote:2jy012b7]

You are trying to feed me up with the words that are unlikey to hear and say in your daily speech, aren't you? Oh, come on, Transly... But, actually, this very word is not so bad to pronounce, don't judge _only_ by the number of syllables.

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

...уже используют слово "гострайтер".

Ага, аж 245 результатов в Гугле. Прямо используют все кому не лень.

ОК, another example: синхрофазотрон. Oh, horror!

No need to feed us with scientific and technical terms, which are based on common Latin or Greek roots AND mostly don't have a short equivalent in Russian.

But in this case, thanks God, we DO have a word for "ghost" and a word for "writer", and even more - we already have a common term for ghost writers.
So why do we have to use English ones? To sound more cool?

Может, прикажешь вообще писателей теперь "райтерами" называть? Для солидности...

Originally Posted by Rtyom

You are trying to feed me up with the words that are unlikey to hear and say in your daily speech, aren't you?

O.o you use "гострайтер" in your everyday speech?

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Oh, come on, Transly... But, actually, this very word is not so bad to pronounce, don't judge _only_ by the number of syllables.

You are the one who is judging by the number of syllables . It wasn't I who started talking about "polysyllable monsters"

And the word фрилансер, that you seem to hate so much, is very easy to pronounce. Гострайтер maybe a bit nore harder, but it never stopped Russian language from assimilating foreign words. A word is either accepted by the language or not. Throughout the history of Russian language, a lot of people demanded to ban "horribly sounding" loan words that are now percieved as an integral part of the language.

And right now, "гострайтер" is an accepted term in the professional community. Can it be replaced by another term in future? Well, a possibility of this exists, but it is not very likely.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Может, прикажешь вообще писателей теперь "райтерами" называть? Для солидности...

Я что, кому-то что-то приказываю? Я констатирую факт. Слово "гострайтер" используется для обозначения этой профессии людьми, которые так или иначе профессионально связаны с деятельностью гострайтеров. Оно фактически стало частью русского языка. Не нравится — попробуй приказать им использовать выражение "писатель-призрак", или писать "ищу вакансию литературного негра". Только я отчего-то сомневаюсь в успехе этого начинания .

Кстати, ты не пробовала проанализировать статистику употребления словосочетания "писатель-призрак"? Попробуй. Значительная часть хитов - это либо упоминание повести Ф. Рота "Писатель-призрак" ("The Ghost Writer"), где есть причина перевести именно так, либо ссылка на одну из книг Энтони Пирса, где имеется в виду писатель-призрак в прямом смысле -- призрак, привидение. Но это так, к слову.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

But in this case, thanks God, we DO have a word for "ghost" and a word for "writer"

Oh, what an argument! We do have a word for one definition of the word "printer", so whenever the word "printer" is used in English, we just HAVE to use the same word, namely "печатник", right? Don't think so.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

we already have a common term for ghost writers

we sure have. "Гострайтер" as a professional term. "Литературный негр" is totally fine in informal contexts

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

Originally Posted by Rtyom

You are trying to feed me up with the words that are unlikey to hear and say in your daily speech, aren't you?

O.o you use "гострайтер" in your everyday speech?

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Oh, come on, Transly... But, actually, this very word is not so bad to pronounce, don't judge _only_ by the number of syllables.

You are the one who is judging by the number of syllables . It wasn't be who started talking about "polysyllable monsters"

And the word фрилансер, that you seem to hate so much, is very easy to pronounce. Гострайтер maybe a bit nore harder, but it never stopped Russian language from assimilating foreign words. A word is either accepted by the language or not. Throughout the history of Russian language, a lot of people demanded to ban "horribly sounding" loan words that are now percieved as an integral part of the language.

And right now, "гострайтер" is an accepted term in the professional community. Can it be replaced by another term in future? Well, a possibility of this exists, but it is not very likely.

It wasn't you who started, but now you take advantage of deviating the topic into the syllables discussion. I won't take it, not I.

And I admit that гострайтер can be a professionalism only, but this is only jargon. Since we are talking about literary words, this is not the word that is highly recommended to use by non-Russian speakers.

My guts tell me this is not the word to be assimilated because the only association it stimulates is гастрит and after that гострайтер sounds very funny. But I don't claim this is the only or at least one of the reasons to purge the word out of the language. Anything may happen, and гострайтер could crown the top of the synoyms to писатель. But I have a right to doubt as a native speaker.

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

Слово "гострайтер" используется для обозначения этой профессии людьми, которые так или иначе профессионально связаны с деятельностью гострайтеров. Оно фактически стало частью русского языка. Не нравится — попробуй приказать им использовать выражение "писатель-призрак", или писать "ищу вакансию литературного негра". Только я отчего-то сомневаюсь в успехе этого начинания .

Ерунда, почитай мемуары и интервью с писателями, в том числе и с теми, кто пишет "для других", практически все употреляют выражение "(литературный) негр". А гострайтерами называет себя молодняк, который только начал заниматься писательским делом и понты колотит.

Кстати, я сказала, что "писатель-призрак" - прямая калька с английского и употребляется редко, поэтому я считаю его таким же бредом, как и "гострайтера". Употреблять это словосочетание не призываю.

[quote:1bqzmvii]But in this case, thanks God, we DO have a word for "ghost" and a word for "writer"

Oh, what an argument! We do have a word for one definition of the word "printer", so whenever the word "printer" is used in English, we just HAVE to use the same word, namely "печатник", right? [/quote:1bqzmvii]
Wrong. And again, your examples are technical, science or computer terms. Не катит.

"Печатник" = "типографский работник" (a person), and we didn't have a word for "printer" (a device), since we didn't have printers whatsoever. And as many computer terms "\принтер" is an equivalent of the English word, but it DIDN't replace a Russian term, because there was none.

But we had "ghost-writers" for a long time, and we have a word for them for a long time, and it's NOT "гострайтер". I repeat again, there's no point in replacing existing words with English ones, unless you're a teenager who wants to seem cool.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

we already have a common term for ghost writers

we sure have. "Гострайтер".

Ага, продолжай в это верить.

Oh, what an argument! We do have a word for one definition of the word "printer", so whenever the word "printer" is used in English, we just HAVE to use the same word, namely "печатник", right?

Wrong, that would be печатальщик или печатчик, а вообще - печатающее устройство. А вообще, если почитать ещё советскую околокомпьютерную литературу, то скорее всего ты встретишь аббревиатуру АЦПУ - Алфавитно-цифровое печатающее устройство или ГПУ - Графическое печатающее устройство

Edit: Гы

Originally Posted by Ramil

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Oh, what an argument! We do have a word for one definition of the word "printer", so whenever the word "printer" is used in English, we just HAVE to use the same word, namely "печатник", right?

Wrong, that would be печатальщик или печатчик, а вообще - печатающее устройство. А вообще, если почитать ещё советскую околокомпьютерную литературу, то скорее всего ты встретишь аббревиатуру АЦПУ - Алфавитно-цифровое печатающее устройство или ГПУ - Графическое печатающее устройство

Рамиль, это не моя цитата. Убери мое имя оттуда, плиз.

Originally Posted by Rtyom

It wasn't you who started, but now you take advantage of deviating the topic into the syllables discussion.

Not true. You used the number of syllables as an argument in your post. I replied with something that was relevant to your argument. Now you blame me? Nice, nice.

Originally Posted by Rtyom

And I admit that гострайтер can be a professionalism only, but this is only jargon. Since we are talking about literary words, this is not the word that is highly recommended to use by non-Russian speakers.

You have no idea what purpose he needs this word for. Nor do I. If he wants to post in a professional forum or something like that, using the word "гострайтер" is adviceable. He has been given another equivalent that can be used in most informal discussions—namely, "литературный негр". Thus, he's been given a complete answer to his question.