Thread: in someone

Originally Posted by Antonio1986

Consider the following expressions (again an English speaker to check if the prepositions are correct):
1. I like bashfulness in a woman
2. I like the beard on a man (i.e. I like it when a man has a bear)
3. I like aggressivness on/in/at a politician

1. The preposition "in" is correct, but I think "bashfulness" is slightly odd here -- somehow "bashful" sounds slightly unfeminine, and also a bit too negative. I would recommend "demureness" instead (the word "demure" is nearly always used of women, but rarely of men). The nouns are not too far apart in meaning, however, and possibly застенчивость could translate both.

2. "on" is correct, but the articles don't match --you can say "I like a beard on a man" (generally) or "I like the beard on THAT man." (specifically). In Russian, I'm pretty sure that you could use По-моему, бороды подходят мужчинам ("In my opinion, beards look good on men") for the general sense, or "Мне нравится борода у этого мужчины" ("I like the beard on that man") for the specific sense.

3. "in" is correct for aggressiveness, bashfulness, modesty, and other abstract qualities.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

I would recommend "demureness" instead (the word "demure" is nearly always used of women, but rarely of men).

In the original 1990 version of Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger requests a fantasy woman who is both "sleazy" and "demure" at the same time. From Googling, it seems that the words распутная и сдержанная are often used to translate Arnold's line.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

In the original 1990 version of Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger requests a fantasy woman who is both "sleazy" and "demure" at the same time. From Googling, it seems that the words распутная и сдержанная are often used to translate Arnold's line.

the translation seems good, but it would be better to use the prep. НО insted of И, because it's necessary to convey the idea of contrast implied by BOTH in English,
This р word always has a negative connotation.
I think сдержанный is a very good choice to translate 'demure'. In Russian it means reserved in a positive way (in expression of one's feelings and emotions). But it is used regardless of the gender.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

По-моему, бороды подходят мужчинам

a more typical way would be
По-моему, мужчинам идут бороды (implies 'all men', 'beards are good for all men in general')