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трёх языков взял

English translation: captured three enemy soldiers for interrogation

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13:12 Aug 28, 2011

Russian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

Russian term or phrase: трёх языков взял

"Шестнадцать раз за линией фронта был, трёх языков взял!"
действие — в 43 году
"взять языка" означает — захватить пленника, который расскажет про секреты своей части

как бы вы это перевели?
спасибо

zmejka KudoZ activity Questions: 1629 (1 open) (15 closed without grading) Answers: 416
Local time: 07:51

English translation:captured three enemy soldiers for interrogation

Explanation:
It's not exactly concise, but when I encountered this term I thought it would be undesirable to plug in something like "informer," since the men in question didn't plan on becoming that until they were captured. The context in which I saw it was from a battle about 425 years earlier...

"Василий в тот же час отрядил легкую конницу за Оку добывать языков".
"Immediately thereupon Vasily deployed light cavalry across the Oka to capture enemy soldiers for interrogation."
(Never mind "thereupon"; my text was written in 1813, so there's an attempt to mimic archaic language.)

Selected response from:

Rachel Douglas
United States
Local time: 23:51

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +7

captured three enemy soldiers for interrogation

Rachel Douglas

captured three enemy combatants who gave up (valuable) information (after interrogation)

Mark Berelekhis

bagged three POWs, potential informers

Alexandra Taggart

captured three squealers

Angela Greenfield

Summary of reference entries provided
Википедия в помощь	Norayr Iskandaryan

Discussion entries: 3

Answers

11 mins confidence:

captured three enemy combatants who gave up (valuable) information (after interrogation)

Explanation:
No equivalent English term, so I see little choice but to spell it out.

Mark Berelekhis
United States
Local time: 23:51
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Russian,

English
PRO pts in category: 542
1 corroborated select project
in this pair and field

13 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +7

captured three enemy soldiers for interrogation

Rachel Douglas
United States
Local time: 23:51
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 277

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

1 day5 hrs confidence:

bagged three POWs, potential informers

Explanation:
"POW" - is a "prisorner of war" abbreviated.

Alexandra Taggart
Russian Federation
Local time: 07:51
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Russian
PRO pts in category: 32

1 day13 hrs confidence:

captured three squealers

Explanation:
В современной полицейской терминологии squealer - это лицо, которое под давлением на допросе начинает быстро "колоться" и выдавать информацию о своих сообщниках.

Хотя я далеко не уверена, что во время Второй мировой войны их так называли, но по смыслу это сленговое слово очень подходит к вашему контексту.

Еще можно "telltale" употребить, как мне кажется (как существительное: captured three telltales).

Slang terms for informants include:
fink — this may refer to the Pinkertons who were used as plain-clothes detectives and strike-breakers.[12]
grass[13] or supergrass,[14] — rhyming slang for grasshopper, meaning copper or shopper[15] and having additional associations with the popular song, "Whispering Grass", and the phrase snake in the grass.[16]
narc — a member of a specialist narcotics police force.[17]
nark — this may have come from the Romany term nak for nose or the French term narquois meaning cunning, deceitful and/or criminal.[18][19]
nose[20]
pursuivant (archaic),[21]
rat,[22][23] informing is commonly referred to as "ratting."
snitch[24]
snout[25]
spotter[26]
squealer[24]
stool pigeon[27]
tell tale or tell-tale[28] [29]
tittle-tattle[27]
trick[30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informant

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Note added at 1 day13 hrs (2011-08-30 03:10:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Похоже, что слово употреблялось и раньше (более 40 лет назад). Нашла цитату из послевоенных мемуаров: Avidon was a squealer to the Gestapo and worked behind the backs of the Jewish police. (Isaac Kowalski, A Secret Press in Nazi Europe: The Story of a Jewish United Partisan Organization (New York: Central Guide Publishers, 1969), 133–34.)

Angela Greenfield
United States
Local time: 23:51
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Russian,

Ukrainian
PRO pts in category: 64

Reference comments

23 hrs

Reference: Википедия в помощь

Reference information:
Захват языка — тактический приём, применяемый разведчиками для того чтобы доставить командованию человека (военнослужащего), от которого планируется получить информацию определённого рода. Выражение «взять языка» не является исключительно жаргонным, так как происходит из древнеславянской речи, и является устойчивым выражением, в форме близкой к изначальной, дошедшим до наших дней.

Reference: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B2%D0%B0%...
Reference: http://www.patiks.ru/txt/1razv01.shtml

Norayr Iskandaryan
Armenia
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Armenian,

Russian

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трёх языков взял

English translation: captured three enemy soldiers for interrogation

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трёх языков взял

English translation: captured three enemy soldiers for interrogation

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

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