Printable View
Is there an English analogue to the Russian expression "ямочки на щеках" that is used to express that someone is attractive in their own way.
quote from Chechov:
Глаза имею карие. На щеках (увы!) ямочек не имеется.
How would you translate it into English?
Alas, no dimples on my cheeks.
what does this mean? That he's plain looking?Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterAdmin
Yes. "ямочки" are considered to be "cute". But he doesn't have them.
Why do you think it’s an idiom? It’s just the author’s witticism expressed with plain Russian words.
It has an idiomatic meaning because the word-for-word translation doesn't express the meaning of the whole phrase.
Checkov is not the only one who uses "ямочки на щеках" to express that "someone is attractive".
Knowing Chekhov, it may actually refer to a person being smiled on by fate. This makes a person attractive. Chekhov was not smiled on by fate, he had TB. And a few other details of his life were not the sort that could be described as being smiled on by fate.Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterAdmin
The opposite kind of thing is when a person has the suspended needle, between eyebrows. Fate is not smiling on you if you have this. It makes you unattractive. If you have dimples on your cheeks, something is going very right. And so you're attractive.
This may be peculiar to me, but "Chekhov was not smiled on by fate" strikes me as clumsy, off key. You'd be better off with "Fate smiled on Chekhov", I think it sounds more in keeping with poetry. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Seraph