Thread: Russian phrase

First of all, let see the russian phrase: "Человек неторопливо выпускает
струйку дыма изо рта." What is the english equivalent of the word
"неторопливо"? Is it the word "easy"? Let me give the context.

It's the summer evening. The caressing warm wind blows. It's a night city
covered with lights. A man expects someone and smokes a cigarette. He is
very quiet. Everything is quiet. He takes out the cigarette of his mouth
and "неторопливо выпускает струйку дыма изо рта". How should I say the
last phrase? Is it "He easy lets the smoke out of his mouth" or "He easy
exhales the smoke out of his mouth"? I don't know what I have to choose.

Thanks in advance.

Я бы сказала "lazily".

leisurely

Originally Posted by astronomer

A man expects someone and smokes a cigarette.

is waiting for someone

is waiting for someone and smoking a cigarette.

gRomoZeka, Vadim84, Indra, Chaika, спасибо!

Мне как-то больше нравится вариант Vadim84 - leisurely. So if I say: "He leisurely exhales the smoke out of his mouth" I think it will be correct.

Originally Posted by astronomer

Мне как-то больше нравится вариант Vadim84 - leisurely. So if I say: "He leisurely exhales the smoke out of his mouth" I think it will be correct.

Да, вариант Вадима мне тоже понравился. Прямо картинка перед глазами возникает.
Но насчет lazily - так тоже говорят. Я читала книгу, там герой постоянно курил, и делал это "lazily", еще он 'puffed off smoke'.

В Гугле много можно найти подобного: "Not bad," nodded Father Time, lazily puffing away on his pipe, ...", "She frowned, and continued leisurely puffing her cigarette", etc.
Поищи, может, найдешь какие-нибудь полезные "курильщицкие" выражения.

"leisurely" doesn't work well in that sort of sentence. For some reason there are only a few expressions where we use "leisurely" in English, and exhale is not one of them. (lazily is fine)

I think it would probably be better to try a different English verb to something else. It will be different, but may sound better in English. Some ideas:

He let the smoke out absentmindedly (that means "without thinking")
The smoke drifted from his mouth
He let the smoke drift away

Those have the idea that he was not trying to blow. You could also try these

He blew the smoke out easily.
He blew the smoke out lazily.
He didn't even cough once.

He takes the cigarette out of his mouth
and slowly blows a steady stream of smoke.

That's what I think it means.

Originally Posted by paulb

"leisurely" doesn't work well in that sort of sentence. For some reason there are only a few expressions where we use "leisurely" in English, and exhale is not one of them. (lazily is fine)

I disagree. To me, "leisurely" sounds ok here, but it depends on the verb used in the translation. No word is an island.

"Easily" sounds bad altogether.

"Leisurely" may not be best with the word "exhale", but as a translation for the word "неторопливо" in this context, it's good.

"and leisurely lets a stream of smoke drift from his mouth." or, maybe better:
"and lets a stream of smoke drift lazily from his lips." (We would probably not say "mouth" here because it sounds like a wide-open mouth.)

To me, "lazily" works only if it modifies that action of the smoke, not the person. It sounds dumb to say that a person blows smoke lazily -- as if anybody does it any other way.

To sum up:

How did the man act? Leisurely, or unhurriedly.
How did the smoke move? Lazily.

Which you use just depends on how you structure your sentence.