'приподняться и раскланяться' I would have thought this would mean 'sat up and nodded in greeting'.
Does it actually mean 'got up (off seat) and made a bow (in greeting)?
'Тут он вежливо снял берёт, и друзьям ничего не оставалось, как приподняться и раскланяться.' ...
Yep, in response to his polite gesture of taking off his beret they had not but to take their backs off their seats and greet him with a bow.
Раскланяться is way more ceremonial than just кивнуть (nod).
So they sat up a bit and bowed? Not stood up and bowed.
Just want to be totally sure! It's too easy to go away thinking I understand when I don't...
To "sit up" is like when you straighten while sitting, if I'm not mistaken. But your butt (well, sorry for the literalness) is still in contact with the surface of the seat.
While "Приподняться" implies that you rise your back about 2 or three inches above the surface, losing the contact. Then you nod and land it back again :)
lol I was extremely specific when describing the action :crazy:
Well, it's not a nod and not a bow, it's like in between them. When you rise a bit off your seat, take off your hat, move your hand with the hat down and aside, make a deep nod or a shallow bow (idk) and put your hat back on while dumping yourself back on the seat.
Kinda like that.
Thats pretty specific! Thanks. I have a translation of that which suggested they stood up, it seems I was right and the real translator was wrong. That normally never happens, so I had to check...
The при- in приподняться means "a little". Pure "подняться" means "to stand up". Now that we have the "при", it means "to stand up a little", not completely. My English sucks when it comes to such tiny nuances so I leave the wording up to you, providing only the definition of what was going on there...
Actually I'd say your English is perfectly good at the nuances, no problem there at all.
Thanks, mate!