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18:19 Jun 12, 2009
Russian to English translations [PRO] Other
Russian term or phrase:мать ее...
The author is drawing parallels between Orwell's 1984 and Medvedev's Russia. He gets a bit carried away and extends the comparison to other autocratic regimes also. However, I cannot account for the words that end the sentence, except to say that it looks like a gratuitous obscenity (mat' ee ?), though why Burma should be singled out for abuse, I don't know.
Герой романа, Уинстон Смит, работал, в сущности, в отделе борьбы с фальсификацией истории в ущерб интересам Океании… Г-н Медведев, вам привет от г-на Оруэлла!Привет – Уго Чавесу, Ким Чен Иру, Махмуду Ахмадинежаду, братьям Кастро, братской Джамахирии, Мьянме, мать ее… Всем по периметру.
Winston Smith, the novel’s hero, worked, essentially, in the department for combating the falsification of history to the detriment of the interests of Oceania… Mr Medvedev, greetings from Mr Orwell! Greetings to Hugo Chavez, Kim Chong-Il, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, the Castro brothers, fraternal Jamahiriya [Libya], Myanmar [Burma], ???
Explanation: That's what a certain category of folks in the US would probably say under the circumstances. Though "... her mother" is exactly what the original says, this usage is by far not native and would probably sound confusing enough. There would also be the issue of using "her" to consider, which is a pain in the neck in its own right.
I think the author is using "Всем по периметру" later specifically to avoid the impression that he is greeting/cursing somebody in particular, which also disambiguates the "greeting" as a curse. This looks like an expression of a generic indignation at what might seem to the author a conspiracy of some fragments of the surrounding Universe (the "perimeter", in his thinking) refusing to conform with the author's pet social theory.
in this particular situation Myanmar is not the target of the speaker's wrath. it is said in the most generic way possible and simply serves to express his overall dissatisfaction. at least that's how I read it
f..k her mother would also sound like nonsense when referring to a country ;)
мать ее and other such phrases are not directed at anyone's mother. it's a generic obscenity roughly equal to "damn it"
That's what it is - gratuitous obscenity - but it's rather mild
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
curse be upon it
Explanation: Мексиканцы сказали бы su madre! :)
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2009-06-12 19:24:13 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
или так: ...Mahmud Ahmadinejad, the Castro brothers, fraternal Jamahiriya, that god damned Myanmar...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2009-06-12 19:32:14 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
или еще так - fraternal Jamahiriya, screwed up Myanmar, ...
Aleksey Chervinskiy Local time: 06:26 Native speaker of: Russian PRO pts in category: 16
7 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +4
... and Myan-f----g-mar
Explanation: That's what a certain category of folks in the US would probably say under the circumstances. Though "... her mother" is exactly what the original says, this usage is by far not native and would probably sound confusing enough. There would also be the issue of using "her" to consider, which is a pain in the neck in its own right.
The Misha Local time: 07:26 Native speaker of: Russian PRO pts in category: 27