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  3. Poetry & Literature

Гражданин начальник

English translation: mister/mr. boss

15:48 Jun 12, 2011
Russian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / A piece of informal dialogue
Russian term or phrase: Гражданин начальник
A form of submissive address as in case of a convict to his guard
chap
English translation:mister/mr. boss
Explanation:
Submissive, as you say, it is, it also carries a considerable load of tongue-in-cheek as, basically, does the entire con jive.

Гражданин начальник is absolutely not an official form address. Nor is it by any means flattering. So, submissive as it may sound, it is falsely so.

In the US jails, the equivalent would be "mr. boss" carrying the same typology of marking "submission", social distance and thinly veiled disdain towards the the "bosses".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2011-06-12 17:54:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

ok, then, use "citizen boss", though I'd use "mr."
Selected response from:

Michael Korovkin
Italy
Local time: 20:56
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6mister/mr. boss
Michael Korovkin
5Comrade Commander
Dr. Alexandra Berlina
4Citizen commandant
GaryG
3Citizen Commodore (or Citizen Commander)
Jurate Kazlauskaite
4 -1Herr Kommandant
Mike Birch
Summary of reference entries provided
BTW
Oleksiy Markunin

Discussion entries: 17





  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Citizen commandant


Explanation:
This is the translation given in Soviet Prison Camp Speech

GaryG
Local time: 14:56
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 132
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36 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Citizen Commodore (or Citizen Commander)


Explanation:
You may use "Citizen Commander" or "Citizen Commodore" .
I do not recommend using "Commandant" as it has associations with the Russian term "komendant"

Example sentence(s):
  • XXX

    Reference: http://books.google.lt/books?id=pc7QfjXob1EC&pg=PT418&lpg=PT...
Jurate Kazlauskaite
Lithuania
Local time: 21:56
Native speaker of: Lithuanian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Susan Welsh: Whoa! A commodore is a high-ranking NAVAL officer. As for Commandant, I don't know (without context), but it would not (in English) be a guard, but rather the top guy.
37 mins
  -> Thank you! Found the term on web :))
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
Herr Kommandant


Explanation:
The context given by chap (the Asker) is crucial: we do not need to worry too much about Russian context nor drift into whether or not this is Solzhenitsyn.
"Herr Kommandant" has been used in this context in any number of British comedies and films. In English, the German phrase is just default.


Mike Birch
Local time: 19:56
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Susan Welsh: To say this in German, in a translation for English-speaking readers, would mean the person being addressed is seen as a Nazi. What prisoner would address the warden that way and live to tell the tale?//I couldn't make sense of it. Is this a comedy?
30 mins
  -> Susan, I'm sorry but I don't believe you have read the Asker's explanation of context in Discussion.
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13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
mister/mr. boss


Explanation:
Submissive, as you say, it is, it also carries a considerable load of tongue-in-cheek as, basically, does the entire con jive.

Гражданин начальник is absolutely not an official form address. Nor is it by any means flattering. So, submissive as it may sound, it is falsely so.

In the US jails, the equivalent would be "mr. boss" carrying the same typology of marking "submission", social distance and thinly veiled disdain towards the the "bosses".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2011-06-12 17:54:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

ok, then, use "citizen boss", though I'd use "mr."


Michael Korovkin
Italy
Local time: 20:56
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 174
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Jurate Kazlauskaite: I'm afraid you cannot use this term in "anti-capitalist" society.
7 mins
  -> why not? Boss is simply "начальник" (a Dutch word, by the way), and Mr stands simply for"master".I don't see anything particularly"capitalist"in either of them.U r not really suggesting"citizen commander"?!Sounds almost as bad as"little father" 4 батюшка
agree  Alex Marshall: just "boss" would work, too
2 hrs
  -> thanks.But without Mr. beore Boss it will lose its unmistakably(in Russian)jailhouse/con-talk connotation.The student basically implies that his opponent has sided up with the pigs,with the oppressors,with the prevaricating authorities,in sum – with"them"
agree  rikka: how about just "Sir" uttered with the utmost contempt?
2 days 2 hrs
  -> thanks. But see my response to Alex. Just a "sir" said with indignation would do but then, in translation, it would require a note: "said with deep disdain". Too bulky :)
agree  Rebecca Pyatkevich (X)
2 days 13 hrs
  -> thanks, Rebecca
agree  cyhul
3 days 10 hrs
  -> благодарю!
agree  Alexander Alexandrov
5 days
  -> thanks, Alexander!
agree  Yerbol Iztleuov
6 days
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22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Comrade Commander


Explanation:
"Citizen commandant" is a more exact translation but "comrade commander" is more often used in translated literature. Besides, the alliteration is nice.:) "Comrade commandant" is more rare but also okay (cp. e.g. http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/articles/magazines/german/geogr...

Dr. Alexandra Berlina
Germany
Local time: 20:56
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in RussianRussian
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Reference comments


1 hr peer agreement (net): +3
Reference: BTW

Reference information:
У Солженицына в "Архипелаг Гулаг" и "Один день Ивана Денисовича" встречается это обращение..

Переводят как - citizen chief/officer/warder

- Иногда ночью гремят замки, падают сердца -- меня? не меня!! а вертухай открыл деревянную дверь за какой-нибудь чушью: "Уберите вещи с подоконника!" От этого отпирания может быть все четырнадцать стали на год ближе к своей
будущей смерти; может быть, полсотни раз так отпереть -- и уже на надо тратить пуль! -- но как ему благодарны, что все обошлось: "Сейчас уберем, гражданин начальник!"

- Sometimes the locks rattled at night and hearts fell: Is it for
me? Not me! ! And the turnkey would open the wooden door for
some nonsense or other: "Take your things off the window sill."
That unlocking of the door probably took a year off the lives
of all nineteen inmates; maybe if that door was unlocked a
mere fifty times, they wouldn't have to waste bullets! But how
grateful to him everyone was because everything was all right:
"We'll take them off right away, citizen chief!"

http://lib.ru/PROZA/SOLZHENICYN/gulag.txt
http://www.archive.org/stream/Gulag_Archipelago_I/Gulag_Arch...

- – Гражданин начальник! А иначе его не вымоешь. Въелась грязь-то…
- "Never get it clean any other way, citizen warder. The dirt's eaten into the floor."

- – От бабы меня, гражданин начальник, в сорок первом году отставили. Не упомню, какая она и баба.
- "They parted my old woman and me in '41, citizen officer. I don't even remember what she looks like."

http://www.davar.net/EXTRACTS/FICTION/ONE-DAY.HTM
http://lib.rus.ec/b/79956/read

Oleksiy Markunin
Canada
Works in field
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Jurate Kazlauskaite: Citizen Chief (perfect!!)
2 mins
  -> Thanks!
agree  Maria Sometti (Anishchankava)
1 hr
  -> Thanks!
agree  ochkarik: "Citizen Chief" is the best
7 days
  -> Thanks!
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