Thread: Russian wisdom - translation needed

Here is another one of these little Russian "life's journey" quotes. I do not understand #1, and #3 and #5 were tricky to translate and might not be correct.

Any suggestions?


The truth about relationships:

1. Not one person in your life's journey is met not written (????)
2. In relationships you get what you give.
3. There is no need to fight for a place in someone's life (?)
4. Everyone changes and this is normal.
5. Relationships take work (?)
6. You must be able to forgive.
7. You can not change another person.

Напрасно - in vain.
Everything else seems OK.
Btw, I wouldn't call it "russian wsdom".

Maybe something like that:

1 Noone you've ever met in your life was met in vain
3 You should't fight for taking a place in someone's life
5 Relationships need an everyday working

Originally Posted by dtrq

Напрасно - in vain.
Everything else seems OK.
Btw, I wouldn't call it "russian wsdom".

So -

"Not one person in your life's journey is met in vain"?

*What is wrong with calling it Russian wisdom? No offense is intended!

Originally Posted by scmember

Maybe something like that:

1 Noone you've ever met in your life was met in vain
3 You should't fight for taking a place in someone's life
5 Relationships need an everyday working

In English, we would probably say "Everyone is in your life for a reason" and that is a fairly common saying.

Originally Posted by Deborski

In English, we would probably say "Everyone is in your life for a reason" and that is a fairly common saying.

you're right ) that's a sort of "which way to translate" - straight, word by word, or to adapt a sentence. Sure each of wisdoms above has an English analog with the same meaning but in other words than Russian version. Your version of number 1 sounds much better though )

Originally Posted by Deborski

*What is wrong with calling it Russian wisdom? No offense is intended!

It's may be just translation, and even if it's not, it's just someone's random trite thoughts.

Originally Posted by dtrq

It's may be just translation, and even if it's not, it's just someone's random trite thoughts.

OK... although I did not think they were all that "trite." A little bit cliche maybe, but mostly very true.

No one can say how they are true or wrong, since no verification basis was given. For example, that 'no one is met in vain': there's no general criteria of when someone is met in vain and everyone will use their own definition. There's no accepted standard of 'met in vain', therefore whole sentence can't be proven right or wrong.
"In relationships you get what you give" - Life is full of examples that proves it wrong.
Etc.

^3. There is no need to fight for a place in someone's life --> not just someone's life but life of a person you want to be in. One should not do that. It has the idea that its a wrong thing when you fight for smth that ought to be given as a gift. kinda that.

Sure each of wisdoms above has an English analog with the same meaning

Except for: Не бывает некрасивых женщин, бывает мало водки

Where do you find these Deb?

The original is very far from literary perfection. Actualy it looks like records in a diary of a very young girl and the style is... helpless.

Ok, Ok, Ok...... lol.... points taken...

We won't call them "Russian wisdom" anymore, although I have to say that not all Russian sayings are perfect examples of literary grace and truth either.

For example, "Тише едешь, дальше будешь" is certainly not always true. In fact, if you keep quiet while being attacked by a wild mountain lion, you have a good chance of dying sooner rather than later! Sometimes you have to scream and yell if you want to live. But, at least this saying rhymes I suppose.

I have no idea where the saying (in the original post) originated. I subscribe to some of these "wisdom of the day" pages on Facebook, and I like this one because it's in Russian. It's a good translation exercise for me.

Originally Posted by Deborski

Ok, Ok, Ok...... lol.... points taken...
For example, "Тише едешь, дальше будешь" is certainly not always true. In fact, if you keep quiet while being attacked by a wild mountain lion

In that wisdom word тише means slowly, not silent

Originally Posted by sergei

In that wisdom word тише means slowly, not silent

All the more silly then - because clearly there are some situations where you better run like hell to stay alive! If a tsunami is coming, for example, the slower you go the less likely you are to live

Originally Posted by Deborski

All the more silly then - because clearly there are some situations where you better run like hell to stay alive! If a tsunami is coming, for example, the slower you go the less likely you are to live

But it's not really about moving speed, actual meaning is "do not haste, make less mistakes and you will reach your goals faster".
Another one says it more clearly: "Поспешишь - людей насмешишь".

The point is that most of these little cliches and sayings sound great but are not applicable in every single situation.
That said, they are fun little translation experiments perhaps

Originally Posted by Deborski

All the more silly then - because clearly there are some situations where you better run like hell to stay alive! If a tsunami is coming, for example, the slower you go the less likely you are to live

That particular cliche has even been rewritten to say "тише едешь, хрен приедешь" =))

"Not one person in your life's journey is met in vain"?

Deborski -- напрасно and the synonym зря -- both mean "in vain; for naught" -- are heard in the classic Soviet-era pop song Разговор со счастьем. I would definitely call it a "must know" song because it's so famous and contains some useful vocabulary and grammar. Here's a version with karaoke lyrics:



"Всё на свете было не зря
Не напрасно было!"

PS. The song originally appeared in a 1973 comedy where it was performed by a bunch of dancing maidens in the court of Ivan the Terrible -- so the folk costumes and the crazy wig-spinning at the end of the video are a parody of the scene.