Thread: Кое-кому хочется во всём обвинять американскую агентуру

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English

Встретились два кума*, один у другого спрашивает: - Ты на Майдан ездил? -Да нет, как же я покину шахту, вода скамью затопит, потом не откачаешь. А ты ездил? -Тоже нет, ты же знаешь, я металлург, печь затухнет, тогда хоть новую строй. А Николай, наверное, был? -Да какое там, разве он своих буренок покинет, ведь он фермер. -А Иван Петрович? -Да он же учитель, кто же детишек учить будет? -А Василий Васильевич? -Да он же врач – больных не бросишь. -Куме**, а какая же СКОТИНА УЖЕ ТРИ МЕСЯЦА стоит на площади и говорит от имени народа?

Two friends speaking, one asks another: - Have you been to Maidan? - No way, if I leave the mine it will go submerged, I'll never get it dry after that. What about you? - Me neither, I'm metallurgist, if my oven goes cold it'll be as good as ruined. Maybe Nicolay was there? - Tell me about it, like he would abandon his cattle, you know that he's a farmer. - And Ivan Petrovich? - He's a teacher, who'll teach kids if not him? - Vasiliy Vasil'evich? - He's a doctor - he can't abandon his patients. - My friend, then who are those FAGGOTS standing on the town square FOR THREE MONTHS ALREADY and speaking in the name of the people?

* The word "кум" means "friend". This word is rarely used in modern Russian language and usually shows the presence of Ukrainian context. Note that the related word "кумовство" doesn't mean "friendship" but rather means "corruption".
** The word "куме" is "кум" used in vocative case. This case is not learned or used systematically, but still exist in the form of exceptions.

Originally Posted by DrBaldhead

-Куме**, а какая же СКОТИНА
- My friend, then who are those FAGGOTS

Okay, today's quick lesson in vulgar English slang: to my American ears, "c*cksuckers" is probably a much better translation for скотина in this particular context.

Understandably, it may seem that calling a man c*cksucker is "logically equivalent" to calling him f*ggot, but there's actually a difference, at least in US English usage.

Surprising as it may seem, c*cksucker can be applied to an AGGRESSIVE and "macho" man, while f*ggot pretty much always implies weakness and passivity. So, if you're talking about those among the Maidan protestors who turned aggressive and violent and started setting things on fire, then "f*ggots" doesn't really work.

But "The peaceful political demonstration was ruined when a bunch of neo-Nazi c*cksuckers started rioting and throwing homemade bombs" sounds totally normal.

P.S. Of course, since скотина is "бранное" but not "матерное", one might also want to choose a slightly less vulgar English expression for the sake of parallelism -- for instance, "assholes" or "goddamn jerks".

Note that the related word "кумовство" doesn't mean "friendship" but rather means "corruption".

Hmmm, "cronyism" seems like the ideal translation here. (The word "crony" literally means "friend," but it comes from old блатной жаргон and for this reason is almost always used in a negative sense: "I'm sick and tired of that idiot -- and all of his idiotic cronies, too.")