Thread: Translation into Russian?

Hi all,

I'm doing a photo comic for a company in the Netherlands which features a main character from Russia. She sometimes has to say things in Russian and I don't want to use fake cyrillic characters in the texts. Can you help me translate them in Russian? The first things are: "Oh, this is really horrible, this cannot be!" and "this is really, really bad" (since she only reverts to Russian when she is very upset) Thanx in advance!!

Это ужасно, этого не может быть.

Это очень и очень плохо.

but it's a literal translation of your phrases, sometimes, literal translation from English doesn't fit into the context or just sounds unnatural.

Yes, Ramil is right. Better post some sketches (if your comic is not copyrighted) then it would be possible to make the text fitting completelly.

You're absolutely right but since its a large company, I'm bound to secrecy. So that's not possible. I can explain the situation somewhat more though. She is talking about a situation that is really bad, not a person or a monster. It is situated in an office so it is a very bad business situation. Does this help? Thanks a lot already for your effort!

Originally Posted by Ramil

Это ужасно, этого не может быть.

Это очень и очень плохо.

but it's a literal translation of your phrases, sometimes, literal translation from English doesn't fit into the context or just sounds unnatural.

Than I have something to add, this is how I would say that:


"Oh, this is really horrible, this cannot be!"

Это и вправду ужасно, этого не может быть!

Это действительно ужасно, просто невозможно!

Это ужасно, такого просто не может быть!



"this is really, really bad"

"это действительно очень очень плохо"

"это плохо, очень плохо"

"это плохо, это просто ужасно"

the low grammar was improved by Gromozeka

Show us this comic when it is out, please.

Originally Posted by Leof

Это действительно ужасно, просто невозможно! (one word)

I would love to. When it is finished. You would only understand a small part of it since it is in Dutch but I will definately post it here

@Leof:

Can I choose either three of the sentences?

If I understood your question right...

The sentences under the English phrases have similar meaning and they are similar with Ramil's sentences, so take any. They are sorted by three, so take the one from those three.

Yes you were correct, that was my question. Thanks so much! This way if Russian speaking people read the comic, the Russian is accurate!

You're welcome!

Hey guys, could I get one more? I need the curseword for a male chauvinist pig. Could you help me out please?

Высокомерная свинья. Chauvinist wouldn't translate well into Russian, it will sound as an accusation, not a curse.

And... chauvinist would fit well when we speak about issues regarding nationalism or racism but not with sexism. So if a woman says the word to a man answering his sexual discrimination attempts it's better to pick another word, женоненавистник, for example.

I agree. Ramil pretty much nailed it down.

First, women here are much less concerned with fight for their rights, than in the West, and feminists are even ridiculed to some degree, so usually women don't curse men with their "maleness" (or at least not in these terms). Second, the word "chavinism" in Russian still retained it's original meaning of "extreme nationalism", and in this context it sounds a bit unnatural (for the Russian, of course) and could be misunderstood.

Since there is no exact equivalent, I think, that the best option is to take Ramil's expression "высокомерная свинья" (literally "an arrogant pig").
(By the way, "женоненавистник"="misogynist").

PS. Names are corrected due to Leof. To Rtyom and Ramil: my apologies for confusing you, guys. Не знаю, что на меня нашло.

Thanks again! You've all been very helpful!

Out of pure curiosity, would this be an insult to a Russian man?

сексист

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Out of pure curiosity, would this be an insult to a Russian man?
сексист

I'm not sure. I think, he'll laugh.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Out of pure curiosity, would this be an insult to a Russian man?
сексист

I'm not sure. I think, he'll laugh.

Maybe, he will be flattered?