https://www.proz.com/kudoz/russian-to-english/other/375389-%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8F.html?
This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
  1. KudoZ™ Top
  2. Russian to English

феня

English translation: slang

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Russian term or phrase:феня
English translation:slang
Entered by: Mauricio Vicente

08:31 Feb 26, 2003
Russian to English translations [Non-PRO]
Russian term or phrase: феня
По Палажченко, этоPig's Latin, thieve's Latin or cant. Я говорила на это предмет с одним американским филологом, и он наглухо открещивается от существования этих выражений в современном американском. Максимум, что он мог предложить в этом плане - street talk. Может, дело в том, что он никогда не сидел.
Any other ideas?
Starhawk
slang
Explanation:
But it rarely goes unmodified in use.

Army slang
Prison slang
New York slang
Teenage slang
Urban slang
Moscow slang
Railroad slang
...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-02-26 12:04:58 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Here is an interesting site for \"hardboiled slang\" ...

http://www.miskatonic.org/slang.html
Selected response from:

JoeYeckley (X)
Grading comment
My mind is much clearer now;-)))
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5underworld slang
Jack Doughty
5 +4slang
JoeYeckley (X)
4 +3Prison slang
Oleg Pashuk (X)
4thieves' cant
Kirill Semenov
4flash
Nikita Kobrin
4Not quite for grading...
Elaine Freeland (X)


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
thieves' cant


Explanation:
Не убеждаю, но варианты thieves' talk, Latin, argot, jargon, patter и т. п. Гугол находит примерно по сотне.

А theives' cant -- около пары тысяч.

Kirill Semenov
Ukraine
Local time: 13:31
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in pair: 3318
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
flash


Explanation:
thieves Latin; underworld language; peddler's French; pedlar's French; rogue's Latin; thieves' argot; thieves' talk; flash tongue; thieves' cant; thieves' patter; thief's cant; thieves' slang


Nikita Kobrin
Lithuania
Local time: 13:31
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in pair: 244
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

30 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
underworld slang


Explanation:
I think this covers the meaning.

Susan Butler, Publisher of the The Macquarie Dictionary, looks ...
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
... of Flash Men text. But now we come to the borderline between policeman's
jargon and underworld slang. This is where Miles looks ...

Ref. 2:
CasinoChecker - Gambling Guides - Gambling History - Poker ...
... Another explanation for the word poker, is that it came from a version
of an underworld slang word, "poke," a term used by pickpockets. ...




    www.records.nsw.gov.au/publications/ vs/vs2/6-7FLASH.PDF
    Reference: http://www.casinochecker.com/know/hist/poker.htm
Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:31
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 14525

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sergey Strakhov: as a general term this sounds better
1 hr
neutral  Nikita Kobrin: Выражение "underworld slang" is not a slang expression by itself while "феня" is. "феня" нуждается в "переводе" на литературный русский язык. Здесь нужно найти соотвествующий аналог в английском - то, как сами англоговорящие воры называют свой язык.
1 hr
  -> Agreed, but the alternatives suggested here all seem either obsolete or very little known or used.
agree  Yuri Geifman
5 hrs
agree  Oleg Pashuk (X)
6 hrs
agree  xeni (X)
9 hrs
agree  Сергей Лузан: or language
12 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +4
slang


Explanation:
But it rarely goes unmodified in use.

Army slang
Prison slang
New York slang
Teenage slang
Urban slang
Moscow slang
Railroad slang
...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-02-26 12:04:58 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Here is an interesting site for \"hardboiled slang\" ...

http://www.miskatonic.org/slang.html

JoeYeckley (X)
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 971
Grading comment
My mind is much clearer now;-)))

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Elaine Freeland (X): Joe, you got it -- hardboiled slang! (See my note below)
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Elaine!
agree  Igor Kreknin: hardboiled slang: > Cabbage: Money // http://education.kulichki.net/profi/pri12.html СЛОВАРЬ УГОЛОВНЫХ ТЕРМИНОВ: > Капуста - деньги
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Svenska.
agree  Marina Petrov: prison slang
14 hrs
  -> Yes. This is one subset of slang. Slang by itself has a mildly negative connotation (although decreasingly so). Adding a negative adjective makes it more so.
agree  zmejka
1 day 11 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Not quite for grading...


Explanation:
... because just when I was going to submit it I saw that Joe had already added his note, so it's rather to support his version. If you need a MODERN equivalent of феня, it is, as Joe said, "hardboiled slang". Here's a definition:

If you find yourself hearing people talk a language that has some English words in it from time to time but you do not understand. Not to worry. You are not under the influence of the local smog or the heat of New York. Dear Business Traveler, what they are talking is pure Classic Slang. So check into the Hardboiled Slang Glossary and in no time, you'll be ready to chin down with hard goons and wise-headed shamuses. Culled from the classics of hardboiled detective fiction (works by Hammett, Spillane, Chandler and others) this lexicon is a good read itself.

And here's a glossarty (one of many on the Net, and you can see it's essentially the same thing as феня. Зуб даю.

http://www.miskatonic.org/slang.html

Elaine Freeland (X)
Local time: 12:31
PRO pts in pair: 28
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Prison slang


Explanation:
There was such a term (maybe, still is?):
Ты по фене говоришь?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-02-27 01:15:15 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

And - what about \"Prison talk,\" \"Conman (con) talk\"?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-02-28 00:34:35 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Something like that - I do not exactly remember the phrase... ботаешь?:-)

Oleg Pashuk (X)
PRO pts in pair: 619

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Elaine Freeland (X): Не говоришь, а бОтаешь! Молодежь... :-)
55 mins
  -> thank you:)
agree  xeni (X): and with Elaine :)
3 hrs
  -> thank you
agree  zmejka: только не "говоришь", а "ботаешь". ;)))
1 day 8 hrs
  -> thank you
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:
ProZ.com term search
Search millions of term translations