Glossary entry

Russian term or phrase:

А мертвец расхохотался, пёрнул в воздух и пропал

English translation:

Farted, darted and departed

Added to glossary by RitaZ
Jan 13, 2013 00:45
11 yrs ago
Russian term

А мертвец расхохотался, пёрнул в воздух и пропал

May offend Russian to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Subtitles. The character is a ghost. During a conversation with his wife who is attempting to touch him, he says:
"Тихо!.. Мне кажется, что я не могу соприкасаться с живой материей… Теряю сознание… И исчезаю!.. «А мертвец расхохотался, пёрнул в воздух и пропал»…"

Obviously, this is from some joke or poem that I don't know and translating it directly makes no sense. Any ideas?
Thanks!

Discussion

Vaddy Peters Jan 13, 2013:
Not modern at all - very, very old. At least first two lines. the rest is variations.
Angela Greenfield Jan 13, 2013:
Авторство не нашла, но стих имеется: На кладбище

На кладбище ветер свищет,
сорок градусов мороз.
На кладбище нищий дрищет,
там пробрал его понос.

Вдруг из гроба вылезает
весь обосранный мертвец,
очень громко восклицает:
"Обосрал меня подлец!
Как ты смел в такую пору
навалить такую гору?"

Нищий долго извинялся,
жопу пальцем затыкал,
а мертвец расхохотался,
пёрнул, свистнул и пропал.
RitaZ (asker) Jan 13, 2013:
My thoughts precisely. Thanks, Misha.
The Misha Jan 13, 2013:
Rita, you've got a bigger problem here. It's some kind of shitty modern Russian poem all right, something a la good old "sadistskiye stishki", and there doesn't seem to be any secret meaning to it. The problem is though that it rings no bells whatsoever for an English speaker, and this here seems to be fiction, so it's kind of important. I say the way out of this under the circumstances may be to try to rhyme it up, to maybe make it self-sufficient. Don't close it yet, I'll try to give it a go tomorrow morning, it's too late now. Cheers.

Proposed translations

+3
13 hrs
Selected

Farted, darted and departed

Here's a way to say it - the operative here being the "a":

Now shush! I don't think I can touch living matter. You know, I'll just knock myself out, and then - whoosh, here I am, gone. Like that stiff from the rhyme - farted, darted and departed.

And it may still require a translator's note of some sort.


"Тихо!.. Мне кажется, что я не могу соприкасаться с живой материей… Теряю сознание… И исчезаю!.. «А мертвец расхохотался, пёрнул в воздух и пропал»…"
Peer comment(s):

agree Sanych_Msk : А мне этот вариант понравился!
11 hrs
agree Andrew Vdovin : Класс!
12 hrs
agree rikka : :)
18 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Misha. I needed something simple because these are subtitles and this is the perfect way out. Nice job!"
+1
12 mins

direct translation is ok

I googled the phrase and it was coming up either as a kids' black humor or "russian folklore." I guess, you would be ok translating it directly and placing an asterik "russian folklore" :o)
Peer comment(s):

agree Maria Mizguireva
1 hr
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

The ghost started laughing, farted into the air and vanished.

...
Something went wrong...
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