Russian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism | | Russian term or phrase: уход за флажки | From recent interview with beaten journalist Oleg Kashin... He mentions a recent controversial article published in Kommersant. Interviewer Parfenov responds: Я когда прочитал это интервью, у меня было ощущение, что это "уход за флажки".
[In context:
- Смотрите, лет 6-7 назад, наверное, на то, что сейчас занимает то место, которое занимает - антифа, Химкинский лес и так далее, это были нацболы. О них можно было писать совершенно безболезненно и безбоязненно, потому что ты понимал, ты не перешагиваешь какую-то границу. Сейчас ты не меняешься, граница меняется. Стало меньше простора, потому что какие-то вещи, они делаются вне. И то интервью, которое было в "Коммерсанте" летом - анонимного организатора погрома в Химках, оно, в принципе, легко могло выйти лет пять назад в любой газете и никого не удивить. Сейчас оно почему-то многих шокировало. Видимо, просто меняется атмосфера и те вещи, которые раньше считались нормальными, сейчас перестают таковыми быть.
- Я когда прочитал это интервью, у меня было ощущение, что это "уход за флажки".] |
| | | crossing the line - see explanations | Explanation:
to cross the line = to change from being acceptable to being unacceptable; to do something wrong
Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms 2006
This is closest in wording to the Russian idiom
"уходить/уйти за флажки" = break [an] unwritten rule[s], law[s]
which was inspired by the song by Vladimir Vysotsky about wolf hunting, where the narrator is a wolf
Explanation of the idiom:
In a traditional Russian wolf-hunting method, a wolf pack is encircled with a long rope having small swatches of fabric (флажки) stitched to it every few feet
Since it retains a human scent for several days, wolves tend to stay within the encircled area
In effect, the rope is a line the wolves cannot cross
In Vysotsky's song:
"For a wolf cannot break with tradition.
With milk sucked from the she-wolf's dugs
The blind cubs learn the stern prohibition
Never, never to cross the red flags!"
In the end, the wolf is crossing the line both physically and figuratively [ibid.]:
"But revolt and the life-force are stronger
Than the fear that the red flags instil
From behind come dismayed cries of anger
As I cheat them, with joy, of their kill"
(c) Kathryn Hamilton
http://www.wysotsky.com/1033.htm
The meaning is somewhat similar to
to go too far = to do more than is acceptable
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs 2002
However, whereas it is easy to imagine someone "going too far" accidentally, "crossing the line" has a stronger connotation of unwillingness to go by the rules
This is exactly the meaning of the context:
To the author, Kashin's words express an unwillingness to follow rules that have shifted over a period of five years
Thus, the entire sentence can be translated this way:
After I read the interview, I had a feeling it was [about] "crossing the line" |
| Selected response from:
Andrei B
Local time: 16:03
| Grading comment Thanks Andrei for such a detailed, interesting explanation!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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2 hrs confidence:  
2 hrs confidence:
3 hrs confidence:
19 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +2 crossing the line - see explanations
Explanation:
to cross the line = to change from being acceptable to being unacceptable; to do something wrong
Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms 2006
This is closest in wording to the Russian idiom
"уходить/уйти за флажки" = break [an] unwritten rule[s], law[s]
which was inspired by the song by Vladimir Vysotsky about wolf hunting, where the narrator is a wolf
Explanation of the idiom:
In a traditional Russian wolf-hunting method, a wolf pack is encircled with a long rope having small swatches of fabric (флажки) stitched to it every few feet
Since it retains a human scent for several days, wolves tend to stay within the encircled area
In effect, the rope is a line the wolves cannot cross
In Vysotsky's song:
"For a wolf cannot break with tradition.
With milk sucked from the she-wolf's dugs
The blind cubs learn the stern prohibition
Never, never to cross the red flags!"
In the end, the wolf is crossing the line both physically and figuratively [ibid.]:
"But revolt and the life-force are stronger
Than the fear that the red flags instil
From behind come dismayed cries of anger
As I cheat them, with joy, of their kill"
(c) Kathryn Hamilton
http://www.wysotsky.com/1033.htm
The meaning is somewhat similar to
to go too far = to do more than is acceptable
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs 2002
However, whereas it is easy to imagine someone "going too far" accidentally, "crossing the line" has a stronger connotation of unwillingness to go by the rules
This is exactly the meaning of the context:
To the author, Kashin's words express an unwillingness to follow rules that have shifted over a period of five years
Thus, the entire sentence can be translated this way:
After I read the interview, I had a feeling it was [about] "crossing the line"
| Andrei B
Local time: 16:03
Works in field
Native speaker of:  Russian
PRO pts in category: 4
|
| | Grading comment | Thanks Andrei for such a detailed, interesting explanation! |
|
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| Changes made by editors |
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| Dec 13, 2010 - Changes made by Andrei B: | | Created KOG entry | KudoZ term => KOG term |
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