[center][glow=green,2,300]Truth or Myth?[/glow]I was once told during the days of the USSR, the Russian language had no simple word for the translation of the word "efficiency," ...that it had to be explained to convey the thought.[/center]
rabotosposobnosty? deystvitelynosty? (sorry, Cyrillic doesn’t work here)
Words only in the ‘German’ sense, I think. As in ‘labor-savingness’ etc. But who needs efficiency when you have all the vodka you can drink? (Which amounts to quite a lot if you’re Russian, I’ve heard.)
Speaking of Germans, our favorite efficiency experts, they say ‘Leistungsfähigkeit’ , not too efficient use of the vocal apparatus either ...
Da, comrade Boris, evryvon got plon, I got plon for you.
[quote author=melissa link=board=translate;num=1128019271;start=0#4 date=09/29/05 at 19:41:59]
Da, comrade Boris, evryvon got plon, I got plon for you.
"Comrades, The Red Scare! The finest secret Soviet superweapon 1979 had to offer."
"We will bury you!"
Ah, Khrushchev, Lenin is still above ground, if you can’t put him under, you’re no respectable undertaker.
"We will impress you then." More Vodka?
[center]I can see you people aren’t going to be much help here.[/center]
Kt
(Boris to Natasha," Eye alvays got plon, dey nevver vork, but eye Alvays got plon."
Boris?
Goodenov or Badenov?
You know what my pappy always used to say, "If the shoe fits, take it off and bang it on a table."
BTW, wasn’t that Putin with the shoe debacle (or was it Kruschev getting ticked at the "mild by Kruschev standards" Putin? The mind is the first thing to go. What could be next?
[quote author=Tommy-le link=board=translate;num=1128019271;start=0#12 date=09/30/05 at 16:06:12]BTW, wasn’t that Putin with the shoe debacle (or was it Kruschev getting ticked at the "mild by Kruschev standards" Putin?
Re: "I was once told during the days of the USSR, the Russian language had no simple word for the translation of the word "efficiency," ...that it had to be explained to convey the thought.
Often, words don’t translate too well from one language to another. For example, English and French have no words that cover all of the nuances of the Spanish words "macho" and "duende." Likewise, no English or Spanish words totally encompass the meaning of the French word "savoir faire." However, this particular claim regarding Soviet Russians having no word for "efficiency" is probably another urban legend. Russian dictionaries do list the word effektinost’ for "efficiency" and ekonomicheskaya effektinost’ for "economic efficiency."
It is true that historically the Germans have been known more for their efficiency than the Russians. Yet, ironically the Russians are still capable of great feats when they really want to be. We all know about their success in World War II, the sputnik space satellite (1957), the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin - 1961) and those fabulous pictures sent back from Venus (1975 & 1982). ;)
[quote author=brian_costello link=board=translate;num=1128019271;start=15#17 date=10/03/05 at 02:31:08]Re: "I was once told during the days of the USSR, the Russian language had no simple word for the translation of the word "efficiency," ...that it had to be explained to convey the thought.
I remember having read about several "words which cannot be found in Russian", apparantly something that was very popular in the Cold War days. Russians didn’t have a word for "peace", not for "to rest", etc. etc.
Of course, this was connected with a kind of twisted Sapir-Whorfian hypothesis / conclusion.
Googling for (variants of) "no russian word for" will give quite some other results.
Of course it is, J, he’s saying that’s all part of an urban legend, something that has been blown out of proportion. And you’re right about the other meanings of mir, by the way.
I thought you would.
Sad that history is a neglected topic tho ( jeez 20th century) and Putin the shoe-banger is a serious anachronism. I may be a ‘whippersnapper’ but I know that when the shoe comes off, you ‘duck-and-cover’. It’s all on tape. And Jackie was fond of white gloves.
btw "MIR" was the space station, ‘peace’, or ‘world’. And Red Square is just ‘Pretty Park’ (not the virus, OH) and the Russians have a word for everything, but especially for endurance and considering their history, that’s a powerful asset. After all, consider who they’ve survived. Stalin made Khruschev look like Putin. No mean task.
