English translation: cheap skeezer? don't you like my "crafty two-timer"?
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03:14 Mar 28, 2009
Russian to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Russian term or phrase:Изменщик коварный!
This is the second post on this. I hit the Select Answer key by accident, and I don't know how to reverse it. That answer is NOT good. Period. Here it comes again.
Two friends, one of whom is visiting from out of town, are talking on the phone. The local invites his visiting friend for a night out, but the guy is unavailable, he is meeting someone on business that night. "Изменщик коварный!" the other guy says.
Traitor doesn't do it, it's too grim. The best thing I've come up with so far is "Turncoat!", but I am not particularly happy with that either since it misses the playful irony that is needed here. "Benedict Arnold!" would have been a great way out, but both guys are Russian and happen to be in Moscow. No go again.
Миша, внизу каждой кудозной страницы есть кнопка: "Moderator(s) in this pair" [Call to this question] - вот ее нужно было нажать и написать модератору. Но в принципе ничего особенно страшного не произошло :-)
One thing Joseph said that sticks out in my mind is that daddy Shrub said whoever leaked the information about Wilson's wife was an "insidious traitor." ...
onlisareinsradar.com/archives/books/
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 24 mins (2009-03-28 03:38:59 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
I am not sure if you receive my reference to the source:
Cherepanov Ukraine Local time: 09:21 Native speaker of: Russian
Notes to answerer
Asker: Yep, that's where the phrase comes from in the first place, that's the entire point of the exercise. It's a joke and has to sound as such. Traitor, insidious or not, just doesn't cut it. Thanks for your help.
I know, skeezer is not defined anything like a two-timer, but I guess that's how dudes talk, maybe?
Thanks The Misha! :)
Tevah_Trans Local time: 02:21 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English, Russian PRO pts in category: 60
Notes to answerer
Asker: Crafty two-timer is good, but I can still hardly imagine it in a casual dialogue. Narrative, yes - dialogue, I don't know. I like skeezer better. Let me think about both of them for a while. Thanks, you've been a great help and a good sport.
Asker: TWO-TIMER IT IS, TEVAH
I looked at the definition of skeezer, and - for the record - this is not what I would want to call a friend or anyone else, for that matter. I'll skip the crafty part and just call the man a two-timer, at least for now. Thanks much. Figuratively speaking, ya by s Vami poshel v razvedku!
23 hrs confidence:
Dirty double-crosser!
Explanation: You already picked, but I've never heard of a "skeezer" in my life, and most of the other proposed phrasess sound quite stilted to me. "Dirty double-crosser" is a natch!
Rachel Douglas United States Local time: 02:21 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 273
The translation workplace 
