Jul 31, 2014 10:46
9 yrs ago
Russian term
United Kingdom
Translator since 1953
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, German to English, English
побольше непонятного
Russian to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Someone quoting the Ilf & Petrov character Ostap Bender.
- Почему тогда "капитан", мог бы хоть на задании генералом побыть?
- Как говорил незабвенный Остап Бендер, "побольше непонятного". С капитаном неясно. чего ты капитан: самолёта, дальнего плавания или милиции. А генералом я ещё побуду.
The less understandable, the better?
- Почему тогда "капитан", мог бы хоть на задании генералом побыть?
- Как говорил незабвенный Остап Бендер, "побольше непонятного". С капитаном неясно. чего ты капитан: самолёта, дальнего плавания или милиции. А генералом я ещё побуду.
The less understandable, the better?
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+4
1 hr
Selected
the foggier, the better
-
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Susan Welsh
: short and sweet
28 mins
|
| agree |
The Misha
: My own first thought was murkier, but that's the same thing.
1 hr
|
| agree |
Sarah McDowell
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Anna Shaughnessy (X)
: I like it the best
14 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I think I'll amend it slightly to "the hazier the better". Thanks for the idea."
17 mins
The more complicated things are the better.
The idea is that it is much easier to take advantage of a bewildered / person /messy situation.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
The Misha
: You are apparently trying to combine to separate grammatical constructs here. As a result, it sounds funny and becomes a tad ungrammatical.
2 hrs
|
|
Thanks for noticing.I should have paid more attention to what I was posting. The idea was to say "of a bewildered person or a messy situation". But still, i have to note: you can't blame a man for trying! :)
|
+2
28 mins
Yulia Savelieva
Australia
Australia
Native in English
Australia
Stand with Ukraine!
Native in: English 
Works in: Russian to English, Ukrainian to English, English to Russian, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
16
the more ambiguity, the better
...
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Note added at 33 mins (2014-07-31 11:19:03 GMT)
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This is a poor translation but I can't think of anything as succinct and ostap_bender-esque as the original, which can be thought of as a motto: Побольше непонятного!
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Note added at 33 mins (2014-07-31 11:19:03 GMT)
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This is a poor translation but I can't think of anything as succinct and ostap_bender-esque as the original, which can be thought of as a motto: Побольше непонятного!
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
LilianNekipelov
: I like it, or the more unclear.
56 mins
|
|
Thank you
|
|
| agree |
Maria Mizguireva
1 day 15 hrs
|
|
Thank you
|
40 mins
So just pile on anything that doesn't make sense.
The exact quote -- as in Anne O. Fisher's 2009 translation of the book.
http://books.google.ru/books?hl=af&id=stNxmJ5kmiAC&q=fortune...
p. 148
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Note added at 43 mins (2014-07-31 11:29:13 GMT)
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This link is better -- takes you right to page 148:
http://books.google.ru/books?id=stNxmJ5kmiAC&pg=PA148&dq=So ...
http://books.google.ru/books?hl=af&id=stNxmJ5kmiAC&q=fortune...
p. 148
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Note added at 43 mins (2014-07-31 11:29:13 GMT)
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This link is better -- takes you right to page 148:
http://books.google.ru/books?id=stNxmJ5kmiAC&pg=PA148&dq=So ...
Note from asker:
| That looks like an excellent translation of the book, but I don't think that exact line quite fits here. |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
The Misha
: Jack is right, the exact quote doesn't fit, all the more so since you can't expect your average English speaker to make the connection.
1 hr
|
|
No. And I am not insisting; I suggested an alternative in Discussion. (On the other hand, the guy might be quoting Churchill or Thatcher or Reagan -- and you'd HAVE to put up with the elaborateness no matter how it fits.
|
3 hrs
Michael Korovkin
Italy
Italy
Native in Russian
&
English
Specializes in field
Italy
Native in: English , Russian
Works in: Russian to English, English to Russian, Italian to Russian, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
174
the less you understand the more you believe (or see)
or simply (Ostap Bender-ish) "lay it on thick: it'll do the trick"
Discussion
If you keep this as a quote, you would not possbly want to invent the wheel.
However, if you feel the exact quote doesn't fit, go for it.
But I am strongly against "the ...the ..." I just can't imagine Ostap painstakingly elaborating like that. Yes, he was a persuader all right, but he would hardly use that, the more so that the Russian quote is "lean", terse, only 2 words.
"More befuddlement//More befuddling stuff," I'd say.
That is "напустить тумана" и "запутать следы"