Thread: Should I worry? Translation Help.

Hi-

I have a very good friend who lives in SPB. I know he has been having problems the last month or more with work and relationships, and he has been going out a lot and drinking to excess (he IS going to be 23, so that is not necessarily unusual).

About 45 minutes ago, I got an sms from him and he said he wanted to talk to me online tonight (it is already 10pm now in SPB). Then 5 minutes later, I get another one from him but all the letters were black boxes. I sent him back an sms asking him to send it again but he did not answer.

I decided to transfer the sms from my phone to my computer and I saw it was in russian.

All the sms said was: "Меня изнасиловали"

I translated it and it said it means "me have raped"

I sent another sms asking him what he meant and again, no answer.

Can this be an expression other than what I am literally interpreting it to be in english? Could it mean that he is worn out, tired, drunk, empty inside? I looked up that word in my russian-english dictionary and it only has the definition as "rape".

I would not want to think that is what he means. Any thoughts?

Thank you-
Ethan

The sentence DOES mean "I was raped" / "I've been raped."

Would it be unusual for someone in Russia to use that expression for something else?

While I don't agree with ANY alternative usage here in America, I HAVE heard people who have been robbed of personal posessions say "i feel like i was raped"

It is just strange that he would send an sms at 9:15pm saying he wants to see me tonight online, and only 5 minutes later, say that...unless it happened last night and he has been in the hospital or police station. i just think he would have been a little more clear, especially since he was sending this to me, who is so far away.

Well, as much as I am a little more worried now, I appreciate the quick reply. Thank you.

I assume it can be some strange slang if considering that he is sure that you can understand him.

I've never heard this expression as meaning something like "I'm totally ruined" or "I was swindled", etc. These meaning just spring to my mind as possible but they are still thought to be far less motivated by this word than the original meaning.

In Russian, this word is mostly used for women......... Well, I don't know. Is there any other way checking he's okay?

He never sends me sms's in russian. he doesn't even send transliterated russian, so it was unusual that he sent those 2 words. Like I said, if it was being sent in a form of "emergency, help", I would think he would send that to someone closer to him that can get immediate help.

I have tried calling his cell phone. It rings but nobody answers. And I have called his flat and neither he nor his roomates are answering the phone.

I don't want to call his mother or sister. Primarily because this little information I have should not be told to them by me, and also, because they don't speak english very well and the last thing we all need now is more mis-communication. My point is, I can't even call and ask them if they have spoken to him recently.

The metro is still open for another 1.5 hours, so hopefully wherever he is he will come home soon. He is supposed to work tomorrow.

If I don't hear from him in another few hours, I can try to call some of his friends - but they might not be able to contact him any easier.

Thanks for your concern. I'll let you know if I learn anything soon.


Ethan

I agree with Rtyom..in my opinion it can be also something like " he was cheated (deceived)" by his close friend

Originally Posted by flowforever

I agree with Rtyom..in my opinion it can be also something like " he was cheated (deceived)" by his close friend

Didnt agree!!! If it were so, it would run "Меня поимели" or "Меня насадили" (like "I had had")

It could also be a friend who sent you an sms on his behalf (as a joke). Drunk people are likely to do such things! (I did... )

Originally Posted by Ethan519

I HAVE heard people who have been robbed of personal posessions say "i feel like i was raped"

It doesnt work in Russia!!! If you are robbed or mugged, you cannot say "Меня изнасиловали" !!! It would make sence that you are raped in the true sense of this word

Originally Posted by Chuvak

Originally Posted by flowforever

I agree with Rtyom..in my opinion it can be also something like " he was cheated (deceived)" by his close friend

Didnt agree!!! If it were so, it would run "Меня поимели" or "Меня насадили" (like "I had had")

I didn't mean I'm right in the first place. Of course, your word variants prove it. Who knows what was the state of the person to act like that?

Well, I am starting to think it is either very bad, in its literal meaning, or it is something like kalinka_vinnie said, and a friend sent it as a bad joke. That would be the only other explanation of why it was in russian letters.

Unless it was sent under duress, my friend would probably have said more words in english, or possibly incorporated some english words, for example, "I was изнасиловали" (if he did not know the english word).

I am leaning towards the former, since his phone has been on since then and has not answered any of my emails or answered the phone. If it was a joke, he would have answered by now.

Only 30 minutes until the metro closes, so if I don't hear from him in another 45 minutes, I will have to think of Plan B to find out what happened.


Ethan

But why would he send you a message in NY while he was under duress? Maybe his friend still has his phone?

And what can you do, but wait for him to contact you?

Well, I have at least part of the answer. I just got an sms from him and he is in the hospital. So it was him that sent the sms. I don't know when it happened, but there are some things I cannot understand.

If it happened yesterday, I am sure he would have sms'd me before his 9pm today, or at the very least, have added more to his sms, telling me he was in the hospital.

His first sms to me said he wanted to see me in chat tonight, followed only minutes later with that ominous message. Like you said, what could I do if it was under duress.

And if it happened today, I would have to think it happened in a place where he KNEW the person, and was in shock but some time had elapsed and he couldn't think of any other way to say it. I can't imagine it would happen on the street at 9pm in SPB near the end of May when it is light outside and that he would be in a state of mind to sms ME so soon afterwards and mention a "chat".

I am speculating everything now and it makes no sense. I will have to wait until the morning I guess to talk to him.

Thank you to all who answered. It was helpful in getting me through some of the confusion. I hope the topic was not offensive to anyone.

Ethan

It could also be that some girl "raped" your friend and now he's upset.

Ramil, read the post above yours, he is in the hospital...

Ethan, it would be nice to know the end of this story when you find out... Now you have piqued our curiosity to what he really meant!

Oops. Sorry I didn't read the latter posts.

How could a man be raped? I think he meant something different. Robbed or attacked or smth.

I will, and again, thanks for your concern (interest in this case = concern).

I got another sms from him because I asked if he was coming home or if anyone was at the hospital with him. All he said was he could not talk on his cell phone from the hospital but he was only there with the doctor.

I think I won't hear from him until the morning, but I will definitely post an update.

Well, this was definitely an interesting variation for translating a couple of words.

Ramil - I did not repeat his entire message when he told me he was in the hospital in the interest of not getting graphic out of respect for the forum - but let's just say, from the rest of his sms, HE DID mean "Меня изнасиловали".


Ethan

Originally Posted by Chuvak

Originally Posted by flowforever

I agree with Rtyom..in my opinion it can be also something like " he was cheated (deceived)" by his close friend

Didnt agree!!! If it were so, it would run "Меня поимели" or "Меня насадили" (like "I was had")

I wrote a wrong thing and noone has corrected me so far!!!

oh my god! how old is he, i first thought it was a girl... he either seriously got raped... which i doubt, or he probably joked...