Thread: Тысячелетие дней?

How would you translate:
A millennium of days
A millennium in days (Something "in" terms of another thing, for instance, "Thirty feet in meters")

Also жду не дождусь. What are the exact connotations to the phrase and can you say Ждал не дождался тебя

Also also, how does the phrase дверь за дверью work. Could one say тысяча за тысячой лет, or even Буду... тысячу за тысячью лет. (Лет or года, I don't know which). Would mean something along the lines of "for a thousand after a thousand years", which doesn't quite work perfectly in English but does it work better in Russian?

How informal is тыщa (for тысячa), could you imagine hearing Ждал тыщу за тыщей лет seriously in a song, or is that abusrd?

A millennium in days (Something "in" terms of another thing, for instance, "Thirty feet in meters")

Тысячелетие в днях.

A millennium of days

Sounds like nonsense. First translation that comes in mind is name of topic. But maybe context is important.

Also жду не дождусь. What are the exact connotations to the phrase and can you say Ждал не дождался тебя

Дождаться is perfect form of "ждать", which means something like "to compete waiting with positive result".
So, direct translation could be "I am waiting, but (probably) I will fail to complete this waiting". Second part looks like lack of enthusiasm, but in reality it is shortened "не могу дождаться" (cannot wait any longer). So, this part serves as enforcer and whole meaning is "to wait with strong desire".
But if you put phrase in past form (Ждал не дождался тебя) it becomes simple fact that you failed in waiting. So, it has no sense. You should use this idiom while first part is in present and second part is in future.

Does тысяча дней not carry the same poetic implication in Russian?
So Ждал не дождусь = Waited with strong desire (and the waiting is over)?

Does тысяча дней not carry the same poetic implication in Russian?

"Тысяча дней" sounds good.
"Тысячелетие в днях" sounds like math excersize.
"Тысячелетие дней" sounds overabundant for me (like "Thirty feet of meters). But if we talk about poems, it can be very good.

So Ждал не дождусь = Waited with strong desire (and the waiting is over)?

No. It makes no sense. Reread last part of my comment:

You should use this idiom while first part is in present and second part is in future.

and replace "should" to "must".

Also also, how does the phrase дверь за дверью work. Could one say тысяча за тысячой лет, or even Буду... тысячу за тысячью лет. (Лет or года, I don't know which). Would mean something along the lines of "for a thousand after a thousand years", which doesn't quite work perfectly in English but does it work better in Russian?

Yes, they work well. Тысяча за тысячей лет, тысячелетие за тысячелетием, год за годом, шаг за шагом,...

— Возможно, я просижу здесь, — продолжал Швейцар, — до завтра…

В этот момент дверь дома отворилась, и большое блюдо полетело прямо Швейцару в голову; ему сильно повезло — блюдо лишь слегка мазнуло его по носу и, угодив в дерево, разлетелось вдребезги.

— …или, возможно, до послезавтра, — продолжал Головастик как ни в чем не бывало, — а может быть…

— КАК МНЕ ПОПАСТЬ В ДОМ? — повторила Алиса уже совсем громко.

— А кто сказал, что вы вообще должны попасть в дом, барышня? — сказал Швейцар. — Начинать надо с этого вопроса, не так ли?

Так-то оно было, конечно, так, только Алиса не любила, когда с ней так говорили.

— Прямо ужас, как вся эта живность любит спорить! — пробормотала она себе под нос. — С ума сойти можно!

А Швейцар, судя по всему, решил, что настал самый подходящий момент, чтобы вернуться к его любимой теме.

— Может быть, я так и буду сидеть здесь — день за днем… День ото дня… Изо дня в день, — завел он.

— А что же мне делать? — спросила Алиса.

— Все, что хочешь! — ответил Швейцар-Головастик и начал что-то насвистывать.

Тыща is ok for songs.

Does тысяча дней not carry the same poetic implication in Russian?

No. Poets like "тысяча лет", "вечность", "века", "столетия" and so on. Larger granules, so to speak.

On the other hand, "тысяча слов", "тысяча дел", "тысяча лиц" в толпе - they mean "очень много" and therefore good to poets.

"я жду не дождусь", "они ждут не дождутся", "ты ждешь не дождешься"-
is used only in colloquial language in the Present Tense only. It emphesizes impatience as waiting for something good or pleasant.

Originally Posted by blind pew

"я жду не дождусь", "они ждут не дождутся", "ты ждешь не дождешься"-
is used only in colloquial language in the Present Tense only. It emphesizes impatience as waiting for something good or pleasant.

дождусь is cleary the Future Tense. Something's not right here.

@xXHoax

The idiom is ultimately the same as "can't wait" as in I can't wait to see you.

Жду не дождусь тебя - I can't wait for you to come (or whatever depending on context). I don't know if you can cut out the 'to come part' and just say I can't wait for you. Your input on the latter would be much appreciated.

Also you can definitely say ждал, не дождался or буду ждать, не дождусь. Although the но conjuction is much needed in both cases in most cases Then it'll lose its idiomatic meaning and must be understood literally.

Я ждал, (но) не дождался тебя. Ты где был, а? - I waited for you but you didn't come. Where the heck were you?

Я буду ждать, но не дождусь своей любви - Somewhat poetic

Ah, last thing. The verb дождаться doesn't really translate to English, so it might be difficult for you to fully understand it. Well, the verb means to have a successful wait after a bit of waiting (this last bit is important), as in the following example:

You're waiting for your friend near a shopping mall, for example. You've agreed to meet up there at 5 p.m. Now it's 5:20 and your friend hasn't come yet. You're getting impatient from all the waiting and finally your friend shows up. Then you just say to your friend: Дождался тебя

Now the tricky part, although you can technically tell your friend the same phrase if he shows up on time (5 p.m. in our example) or just a few minutes later (like 5:05). But you will most likely offend them in that case and they'll probably reply: Я пришел/пришла вовремя or я только немного опоздал(а). Why? Because as I mentioned the verb дождаться implies that you have already waited for someone or something for sometime until you finally get what you wanted.

Hate to make it even longer, but a translation example of the verb I spotted in a BBC documentary about a Russian prison. One prisoner just got an official paper stating that he has served his long sentence and is a free man from now on. He turned to his friend, his face in tears and then shouted excitedly: Наконец-то дождался! The translation for that bit was "I've finally waited long enough!"

Originally Posted by iCake

дождусь is cleary the Future Tense. Something's not right here.

дождусь is clearly the Future Tense, but the whole fixed expression "Жду не дождусь" can only be used in the present tense in grammatical sense, but can refer to events in the past.

blind pew

Why are you telling me all this? Is that not what I've already mentioned?

Originally Posted by iCake

Then it'll lose its idiomatic meaning and must be understood literally.

Originally Posted by iCake

blind pew

Why are you telling me all this? Is that not what I've already mentioned?

sorry, mate. I took you wrong. I have edited my post.