Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Russian term or phrase:
замученный «Нарзаном»
English translation:
tired of the changeless situation
Added to glossary by
Tatiana F.
Apr 30, 2012 09:58
12 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Russian term
замученный «Нарзаном»
Russian to English
Other
Other
Общественное телевидение, о котором столько мечтала наша замученная «Нарзаном» интеллигенция, наконец создано.
Narzan, I'm aware, is the name of a mineral water; in what sense are the intelligentsia "tormented" by it? Are there endless advertisements for it on Russian television?!
Narzan, I'm aware, is the name of a mineral water; in what sense are the intelligentsia "tormented" by it? Are there endless advertisements for it on Russian television?!
Proposed translations
(English)
Change log
Jun 28, 2012 13:43: Tatiana F. Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+2
4 hrs
Selected
tired of the changeless situation
This phrase is an allusion to Ilf and Petrov's The Twelve Chairs. It is said by an alcoholic who is tired of not having money to buy spirits and is thus reduced to drinking Narzan all the time. This page outlines its usage in the book (in Russian) http://cyclowiki.org/wiki/Я_человек,_измученный_нарзаном. It is used ironically about people tired of life or about chronic alcoholics. I think your sentence implies the former meaning. So since your audience is likely not to be familiar with the book, I would reword it altogether.
Peer comment(s):
disagree |
Alexander Onishko
: I still think it is not "changeless situation" what is implied.
2 hrs
|
A wider context is required to be absolutely sure, but in my opinion we can deduce from the sentence that the television in question was created after a long period where the intelligentsia could but dream of it, hence "changeless situation".
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agree |
Oleg Osipov
3 hrs
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agree |
NataliaShevchuk
4 hrs
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agree |
Vitali Stanisheuski
1 day 6 hrs
|
neutral |
AxmxZ
: "Changeless"?
7 days
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
12 mins
exhausted by drinking "Narzan"
It a reference to the novel "12 chairs" by I. Ilf and E. Petrov
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs
There mechanic Mechnikov is saying to Ostap Bender:
"Дуся! Вы меня озлобляете. Я человек, измученный нарзаном."
The meaning is such that Mechnikov does not have money to buy vodka and has to drinK "Narzan" instead. :(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Chairs
There mechanic Mechnikov is saying to Ostap Bender:
"Дуся! Вы меня озлобляете. Я человек, измученный нарзаном."
The meaning is such that Mechnikov does not have money to buy vodka and has to drinK "Narzan" instead. :(
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Olga Dyussengaliyeva
54 mins
|
Большое спасибо!
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disagree |
Tatiana F.
: I think the use of this phrase is figurative.
8 hrs
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Let's teach them a lesson of Russian realia! (yahoo!)
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agree |
Svetlana Potton
: мне нравится ваша ссылка. Нужно перевести как есть, с «нарзаном», и поставить ссылку на источник, будет очень даже логично.
21 hrs
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Большое спасибо!
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disagree |
Kiwiland Bear
: Way, way too literal and hardly relevant. Do you really think they were drinking Narzan and got exhausted?!?
23 hrs
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Thank you for your opinion, Kiwiland! I believe we could add a translator's note with an explanation.
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-2
7 hrs
sick of 'narzan -drinking intelligensia'
In France, or the UK, where Narzan is not on sale, you could convey the same meaning with 'the Perrier-drinking intelligensia...'
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Alexander Onishko
: lemonade
53 mins
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disagree |
Tatiana F.
: I think the use of this phrase is figurative. Besides, your version does not grammatically correspond to the original: it is the intelligentsia that is sick of something, not someone that is sick of the intelligentsia.
1 hr
|
disagree |
Leonid K.U.
: quite wrong
2 hrs
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neutral |
Mikhail Kropotov
: Tatiana is correct
4 hrs
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disagree |
AxmxZ
: That's just not what the idiom means.
8 days
|
-1
8 hrs
fed-up with crud
The derivation has been explained by others already and I agree you better get rid of "Narzan" and find some English expression. This is my take on it.
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Tatiana F.
: I think your version is much more negative than the original, which is a bit ironical, that's all. I would put it a bit milder. Although I do agree that it is not about drinks the author is talking here.
8 mins
|
disagree |
Alexander Onishko
: what is "crud" ? my dictionary does not have it. ||| (facepalm) ||| according to this dict http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crud crud is something of poor quality. However, "narzan" is a product of very high quality. Therefore your translation seems incorrect
12 hrs
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Ever heard of real dictionaries? Or even Google for that matter?// Ex.from M-W dict: "He complains that there's too much crud on TV these days" - right on subject :-) And of course, that was said with irony & sarcasm, not in a literal way.
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7 days
burned out on state-controlled television
I don't see any point in trying to explain the actual 'Narzan' to the reader, unless one is willing to write a whole paragraph about '12 chairs'.
Discussion
С натяжкой можно предположить, что значение тут "исстрадавшиеся по чему-то". Как монтер исстрадался по водке, так и интеллигенция - по общественному ТВ.
Хотя кто знает, может, интеллигенция, читающая статью, и обиделась, раз здесь можно увидеть намек на алкоголизм... Автор не слишком хорошо выбирает слова.
<br>
- Сомнительно чтобы истинная интеллигенция спивалась. Все остальные слои общества (и куда как менее образованные и воспитанные) пьют гораздо больше.<br>
- Столько дебатов о столь малом. Само словосочетание здесь, как не имеющее ни смысловой ни стилистической нагрузки, вообще стоило бы пропустить в переводе.
Если вернуться к самой фразе, то стоит заметить что монтер говорил это на лечебном курорте, где этим нарзаном хоть упейся. Да, он может и соскучился по водке, но будь он в деревне, сказал бы, что измучен "молоком", будь где-то в городе, сказал бы "водой из-под крана". Сам нарзан тут постольку-постольку.
Вот и автор фразы... "измученная нарзаном интеллигенция". Всем простым людям известно, что нарзан плохо действует только на любителей алкоголя.. Кроме авторов фраз "вступаем в область догадок". И хорошо, кстати, что недуг сей миновал автора фразы про догадки.