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durak

English translation: fool

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Russian term or phrase:durak
English translation:fool
Entered by: Milana_R

18:11 Dec 14, 2001
Russian to English translations [Non-PRO]
Tech/Engineering
Russian term or phrase: durak
durak
kyle
Literal meaning is fool
Explanation:
However blockhead as suggested above is a very good translation. Some other options: moron, some uses of stupid (hey, stupid!), and the more rude variety. In Russian it is not a very strong term, all their folks tales are full of good-natured, noble-though-ignorant, naive-yet-shrewd peasants who save the day and get the girl in the end.
Selected response from:

Yuri Geifman
Canada
Local time: 18:33
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement. KudoZ.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +7Literal meaning is fool
Yuri Geifman
5 +3idiot
DR. RICHARD BAVRY (X)
5 +2[COMMENT]
DR. RICHARD BAVRY (X)
4 +2Stupid
Milana_R
5 +1can be seen in the lower box:-)
ttagir
4 +2fool, simpleton, dimwit, silly billy,dummy
Nina_M
5blockhead
mbata
2 +1jerk or jackass
Shila


  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
blockhead


Explanation:
blockhead

mbata
Local time: 00:33

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  lefki (X): yes
5 mins
disagree  Marcus Malabad: too literal register, not colloquial (which durak is)
2 hrs
neutral  Alexandra Tussing: it's not very common
3 days 6 hrs
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30 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
Literal meaning is fool


Explanation:
However blockhead as suggested above is a very good translation. Some other options: moron, some uses of stupid (hey, stupid!), and the more rude variety. In Russian it is not a very strong term, all their folks tales are full of good-natured, noble-though-ignorant, naive-yet-shrewd peasants who save the day and get the girl in the end.

Yuri Geifman
Canada
Local time: 18:33
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 389
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement. KudoZ.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Fernando Muela Sopeña
22 mins
agree  Oleg Pashuk (X)
43 mins
agree  Data (X): You could also say DUMMY - that will do, too
1 hr
  -> isn't it amazing how many different ways there are for us to express our feelings of superiority? (or try anyway :-D)
agree  Alexandra Tussing
2 hrs
agree  Milana_R: Sorry Yura, I didn't see your proposed "stupid"... Is your peasant Иванушка-дурачок?
16 hrs
agree  Jack Doughty: "Simpleton" would convey the meaning but it is rather old-fashioned and formal. "Simple" is a polite way of saying dim-witted.
23 hrs
agree  protolmach
1 day 5 hrs
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48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Stupid


Explanation:
Скорее Глупый
но в некоторых случаях тоже подходит.



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Note added at 2001-12-15 11:15:45 (GMT)
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allow me to offer this one then:
dim-witted

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Note added at 2001-12-16 00:07:45 (GMT)
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To Shila:
a revelation: not everything in the movies is true...
you should check http://www.m-w.com for "jerk" - not the movies.
"Jackass" - is "осел". While "дурак" is pretty close, it is still no cigar, not unlike "stupid".

Milana_R
Local time: 15:33
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in pair: 43

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alexandra Tussing
1 hr
  -> thank you
agree  H.A. (X): это означает «тупой»
2 hrs
  -> thank you! And to think that I've been using it so irresponsibly!
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
jerk or jackass


Explanation:
Jerk is a slang with a meaning "stupid person". Americans use it a lot on the roads.
Jackass means "fool" but it's a ruder variety of the word fool, I would say it's a cursing word.

Shila
United States
Local time: 18:33
PRO pts in pair: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Milana_R: no - jerk is short for "jerk off", which is "masturbate", and a Jackass is a donkey
15 hrs
  -> Milana, you should rent the movie "The Jerk", starring Steve Martin and then tell me if "jerk" means "stupid person" or "masturbating". And "donkey", actually "male donkey" is one of the meanings of "jackass"
agree  protolmach
1 day 3 hrs
  -> Thanks
neutral  Alexandra Tussing: in my experience, a jerk is not just a stupid person, but also a mean one. May actually be quite clever. Durak, normally, is just stupid, not mean.
1 day 10 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
can be seen in the lower box:-)


Explanation:
Indeed, a very important word in Russian...
Durak (дурак, masculine gender, solely)
might mean
1. A stupid man, fool, etc. Some of possible use are, e.g.,
валять/ломать дурака — to idle носиться с чем-л. как дурак с писаной торбой — to fuss over something like a child with new toy
строить из себя дурака — to make a fool of oneself
нашел дурака! — not likely!, no fear!, no thanks!
дуракам закон не писан посл. — fools rush in where angels fear to tread услужливый дурак опаснее врага — God deliver me from fools, etc.
2. Additional meanings:
изрядный дурак = a jolly fool
круглый дурак = perfect/utter fool
набитый дурак = perfect/utter/complete fool
форменный дурак = perfect fool
дурак дураком = arrant fool, utter fool
оставаться в дураках to make a fool of oneself, to look like a fool
3. Negative usage which is a kind of compliment:-)==>
он не дурак поесть = he is a hearty eater, he is a good trencherman.
4. "Durak" - a kind of very popular card game.

5. Durachit'sya (дурачиться) - means несовер.; разг. to fool (about), play tricks, to play the fool.

Note also that in some cases this word is used to stress almost intimate relations between a woman and a man: she may say: "Дурашка ты мой!", which can be translated even as, say "goosey" and means that the woman relates to this man with ... a tenderness.

Yours,
Tagir.



    Reference: http://www.lingvo.ru
ttagir
Local time: 01:33
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in TatarTatar
PRO pts in pair: 492

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alexandra Tussing
29 mins
agree  Yuri Geifman: у нас говорят, что в России две проблемы - дураки и дороги, а вот в Канаде с дорогами все в порядке :-)... P.S. I can't beleive that nobody ever said goosey to me... the matter needs to be addressed right away... what the heck does it mean anyway?
1 hr
neutral  H.A. (X): Юра, 'goosey' is неуравновешенный, нервный, придурошный, - i.e. your opposite
1 hr
disagree  Marcus Malabad: have never heard goosey used in North America ever!
21 hrs
neutral  John Kinory (X): And what Marcus Malabad has never heard, cannot possibly exist. What a ditz.
113 days
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14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
idiot


Explanation:
If the context demands the term that a typical American might use (short of "dipshit"...I leave it to Kyle to decide whether it is "R rated"

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Note added at 2001-12-15 08:45:35 (GMT)
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how about this for an interesting reference?
http://www.bartleby.com/61/22/D0242250.html

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

dipshit

SYLLABICATION: dip·shit
PRONUNCIATION: dpsht
NOUN: Vulgar Slang A foolish or contemptible person.
ADJECTIVE: Foolish or contemptible.




--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2001-12-15 08:45:56 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

how about this for an interesting reference?
http://www.bartleby.com/61/22/D0242250.html

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

dipshit

SYLLABICATION: dip·shit
PRONUNCIATION: dpsht
NOUN: Vulgar Slang A foolish or contemptible person.
ADJECTIVE: Foolish or contemptible.




--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2001-12-15 08:47:03 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

How about this for an interesting reference?


The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

dipshit

SYLLABICATION: dip·shit
PRONUNCIATION: dpsht
NOUN: Vulgar Slang A foolish or contemptible person.
ADJECTIVE: Foolish or contemptible.



    often the recipient of terms of opprobrium..but still kicking!
DR. RICHARD BAVRY (X)
PRO pts in pair: 39

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Milana_R: agree, but the more times you say it, the more offensive it gets somehow...
2 hrs
  -> I agree entirely with you..but the more you think about it, the more idiotic it becomes! We certainly have a lot of words for things we despise, eh?
agree  Marcus Malabad: this is it! 'fool' is too neutral. one speaks of the 'village idiot' - similar to the
9 hrs
  -> Thanks, Marcus! That's how it seemed to me too!
agree  Alexandra Tussing: it's getting funny
21 hrs
  -> Funny beyond words! ;>)
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22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
fool, simpleton, dimwit, silly billy,dummy


Explanation:
There is a variety of meanings for this word. It all depends in what context it is being used.

Nina_M
United States
Local time: 18:33

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  protolmach
7 hrs
agree  Alexandra Tussing
14 hrs
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1 day 3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
[COMMENT]


Explanation:
It would seem that savants rush in where fools would be dreadfully idiotic to tread.

Can we all say "чепуха"? I knew we could!


    ������ � �����
DR. RICHARD BAVRY (X)
PRO pts in pair: 39

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  H.A. (X): finally someone has voiced the truth, but I personally have an excuse: I hate knitting and shopping, that is why I am hanging around here
1 hr
  -> Thank God someone else has a sense of humor!...and thank God it is you!!!
agree  Alexandra Tussing: It's getting stranger and stranger
2 days 3 hrs
  -> Might even call it a durakathon!
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