Thread: люди добрые!

Есть ли в английском какой-нибудь аналог русского обращения "люди добрые!"?
Например, "простите меня, люди добрые!" Или "помогите, люди добрые!"
Я думаю, что вряд ли, но вдруг все-таки есть какой-нибудь аналог, something idiomatic?

Would "люди добрые!" be a slightly cute and affected way of addressing or getting the attention of a small crowd, like a less formal version of "дамы и господа!"?

If so then "Good people" springs to mind, or if the people you are addressing are known to you "dear friends!" would also work.

Yes, exactly! So "good people" fits and sounds idiomatic? I just had doubt on that, but now I see I was wrong
Thank you very much!!

It's self-consciously old-fashioned and theatrical, but it's a fairly common set phrase so I suppose that means it's idiomatic.

The fact that it happens to be a perfect literal translation of your Russian phrase is just a coincidence.

По-моему, folks подойдет.
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Originally Posted by chaika

По-моему, folks подойдет.

По-моему, нет.

I don't know if the order of words makes a difference in meaning in Russian, but I found this translation:

добрые люди kindly souls

Russian - English full dictionary http://get-translation.com/dictionary.p ... 1%8B%D0%B9
So in English it means people who are:

kindly . . . ADJECTIVE . . . 1. Of a sympathetic, helpful, or benevolent nature: a kindly interest; a gentle, kindly soul.

The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. (2000) http://www.bartleby.com/61/48/K0064800.html
Here is an example of recent use illustrating that meaning:

Kindly Souls All Over Town . . .
Recently, the students in my urban studies seminar at Barnard College conducted an experiment, systematically dropping wallets all over the city to see whether or not New Yorkers would return them. The results surprised us all: in 132 drops from the Bronx to Brooklyn, the wallet was stolen only two times. The overwhelming majority of wallets were returned, with New Yorkers sometimes going to extreme lengths, like running down streets and missing subway trains, to help.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A9619C8B63

Originally Posted by Ken Watts

I don't know if the order of words makes a difference in meaning in Russian

It does. Very much.
"Люди добрые!" is an addressing, exactly as scotcher has described it.

I think "Good people" has an air of superiority to it. It sounds old fashioned and I don't think I've ever heard it used to address people. At least not seriously.

Good people seems like something Caesar would say to address a crowd. And I doubt any of us is a Caesar...

Folks is a great word to use (especially in the US, I guess). Sometimes people say, "Guys." (Of course, this offends some women, so you can also say, "Guys and gals" - but that's seems to have a lighter connotation to it).

If you say "folks" in the UK you'll get laughed at if you are not American, and if you are American you will cause many of the people in the room to take an instinctive dislike to you.

Originally Posted by ZelyeUrsuli

It sounds old fashioned and I don't think I've ever heard it used to address people. At least not seriously.

Same in Russian.
Guys, "good people" is exactly what I wanted, really. I never said I was going to use it in a public tram tomorrow

Originally Posted by scotcher

If you say "folks" in the UK you'll get laughed at if you are not American, and if you are American you will cause many of the people in the room to take an instinctive dislike to you.

You'd probably be laughed at too if you said it seriously in a big crowd. I mean, Bush uses it and no one laughs at him...

...Oh, wait...

How true...