Thread: Trying to figure out slang words of a computer game character (screenshots included)

This game is called "Book of Unwritten Tales", a humorous quest adventure game. I ran into a funny city guard character and wanted to understand his slang better so I decided to post it here.




1) Does че mean just что? because in this case I notice it might mean о чем.

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The guard is asked if he's human here.

2) What's the deal of adding то to я? a slang thing? And what does the дык thing suppose to mean?


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3) Shouldn't it be меня зовут and not меня зваль?

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Here the guard answers the "where am I" question...


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4) Is it slang to say эт instead of это?




5) Сечешь? What's that? I get no dictionary find on google translate.

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I have more but that should be enough for the first round

1) "чё" is the same as "что", only colloquial and less polite.

2) "Who, me? But of course!" - Here "дык" is more or less a substitute for "так" or "так ведь": an interjection implying some sort of explanation afterwards (however, here he just says "of course"). "-то" is a particle which terms of use are difficult to describe.
Let's just say that in one highly theoretical article on the subject it was desribed as a contrast marker operating as follows. There are some objects A,B,C... And some properties X,Y,Z.. Not mutually exclusive, I mean. -ТО in declarative sentences is used in constructions like "A-то has property X". It marks the information known by the hearer and makes him activate alternatives in his/her mind: if A has X, then what property X,Y,Z.. does B possess? What property does C has? For example "Me, I've brought vernier caliper". Now, you have a peson with a caliper and a set of other people that brought a caliper, a pen, or maybe something else.
Information on A marked by -ТО is assumed to be known by both the speaker and the hearer (though not yet activated in hearer's mind).
In questions+answers like in your example ("Are you human?", "Did Jack bring some milk?") it is quite simple: the one who answers "Я-то?", "Джек-то?", "Книга-то?" simply emphasizes once again that they are talking about the same object/person: "Me (precisely me among other people)? Of course!"
I suggest that you just keep track of typical uses of that particle rather than dig into that theoretical explanation. After you collect some examples, it is going to be easier to see the patterns.

3) "Меня звать" is an older variant (you may easily see it in 19th centure books) and probably not as literate. Cannot comment on this, by subjectively I feel it shows that a guard is a simple fellow.

4) It's hard to tell. "о" in "это" is unstressed, so in speech it may be hard to hear if it's there or if it disappears between "т" and the first consonant of the next word. Consider this one more way to show that the guard isn't exactly a bright guy.

5) A colloquial meaning of "сечь" ("to whip" or "to slash to pieces") is "to understand", "to get the idea". A perfective for this meaning is "просечь" - "to get it".

1) Чё - same as Что, but very colloquial (used when talking to a professor at school can be regarded as rude)

2) -то - усилительная частица. used for emphasis. At intermediate or advanced level of Russian, one understands how to use it. Дык -very colloquial for "так" (просторечие)

3) меня звать - просторечие (old-fashioned, as the previous poster said) normal way is always "меня зовут". меня зваль - doesn't exist.

4) Эт - просторечие... In fluent speech "о" may disappear. Пример: Эт как? (but the correct spelling is always Это как). In this computer game the spelling is alternative to make it sound very colloquial and somewhere is incorrect.

5) Сечешь? - просторечие. very colloquial. Like in English: you follow? you feel me? (meaning, Do you understand?)

by просторечие - i mean very colloquial use, or used in very casual speech, or sometimes characteristic of old-fashioned language...

Where did you find this game in Russian? I googled it and it says the developer is German.

пялишься (пялиться) - colloquial form of "to stare"
не видал = colloquial form of "не видел"
"Раньше я того... был" - "того..." is a filler word here, can be omitted, it is, again, colloquial and means that the guard paused in his speech for a short period of time
зашибенный can be translated as kewl
"не доставай меня" - colloquial form of "don't bother me"

The guard's speech is very colloquial and "redneck-ish"

Originally Posted by TheHedonist

Where did you find this game in Russian? I googled it and it says the developer is German.

Offtopic, yeah, but try Softclub's site. There aren't that many publishers in Russia. 1C-Softclub, Buka (now belongs to 1C anyway), ND Games (Noviy Disk) are all you need to know. There's also Snowball - a company specialising in localisation. It is now also part of 1C (AFAIR) and in last years it only worked through that publisher, anyway.

So when it comes to Russian versions, you basically need to visit Softclub's site or ND's site. Maybe Buka (Valve's games). Hardly anything else. If you experience any difficulties, visit ag.ru and try to find the game. There's always the information about release dates in different coutries and its Russian publisher.

Shadyarc, alexsms - THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Sorry it took me a while to reply. This game is called Книга ненаписанных историй in Russian and is available only in Russia (a Russian friend loaned it to me )

So he speaks in a slang-like fashion? I see...perhaps I shouldn't read too much into the definitions, and just understand it's slang Much appreciate the replies

5) Сечешь? - просторечие. very colloquial. Like in English: you follow? you feel me? (meaning, Do you understand?)

Oh cool.. It's like when uses усек

2) -то - усилительная частица. used for emphasis. At intermediate or advanced level of Russian, one understands how to use it. Дык -very colloquial for "так" (просторечие)

First time I heard of дык! good to know.