Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Russian term or phrase:
\"лягушка\"
English translation:
bouncing mine
Added to glossary by
Sofia Gutkin
Oct 13, 2012 18:31
11 yrs ago
Russian term
"лягушка"
Russian to English
Art/Literary
Military / Defense
WWII weapons
An elderly woman is describing WWII soldiers coming through her village in October 1941. Here is the full sentence:
Один, вот, хотел, вытащил лягушку эту, гранату, хотел к нам в окоп кинуть, а другой говорит матом на него: «Ты что? Не слышишь, дети плачут!»
Reference: http://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/лягушка
Please suggest an equivalent slang term in English.
Один, вот, хотел, вытащил лягушку эту, гранату, хотел к нам в окоп кинуть, а другой говорит матом на него: «Ты что? Не слышишь, дети плачут!»
Reference: http://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/лягушка
Please suggest an equivalent slang term in English.
Proposed translations
(English)
3 +4 | bouncing | NataliaShevchuk |
5 +2 | "Bouncing Betty" | Alex Khanin |
5 | "frog" mine, Bouncy Betty mine (German mine WWII) | Ilya Prishchepov |
3 | pest | Iryna Crany |
4 -1 | damn thing | The Misha |
Proposed translations
+4
50 mins
Selected
bouncing
Бабушка вполне могла перепутать гранату с миной-лягушкой.
Я бы перевела как "bouncing grenade", указав в примечании, что под этим может подразумеваться.
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Note added at 7 hrs (2012-10-14 02:21:12 GMT)
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I would go with this:
"...one of them... pulled out this, you know, bouncing thing, a grenade...*"...
And the footnote: * Bouncing mine (orig. in Russian: lyagushka) is a bigger explosive device that looks similar to a hand grenade. The old woman obviously has confused two types of weapons.
Я бы перевела как "bouncing grenade", указав в примечании, что под этим может подразумеваться.
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Note added at 7 hrs (2012-10-14 02:21:12 GMT)
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I would go with this:
"...one of them... pulled out this, you know, bouncing thing, a grenade...*"...
And the footnote: * Bouncing mine (orig. in Russian: lyagushka) is a bigger explosive device that looks similar to a hand grenade. The old woman obviously has confused two types of weapons.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Gennady Lapardin
: bouncing mine много раз встречается в гугле
48 mins
|
спасибо
|
|
agree |
Sasha Spencer
4 hrs
|
thank you!
|
|
agree |
Angela Greenfield
: Согласна, Наталья. Вас здесь не услышат, конечно, т.к. defense - это мужская область. Что нам- женщинам с ними спорить? :-) Думаю, именно гранату бабулька имела в виду.
1 day 15 hrs
|
Спасибо! :)
|
|
agree |
cyhul
60 days
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you for an elegant solution and for staying calm amongst all this "drama"."
19 mins
pest
Возможно подойдет pest - derogatory term for an animal, без упоминания конкретного животного
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Note added at 22 mins (2012-10-13 18:54:02 GMT)
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A pest is "a plant or animal detrimental to humans or human concerns; alternative meanings include organisms that cause nuisance and epidemic disease associated with high mortality (specifically: plague).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pest_(organism)
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Note added at 22 mins (2012-10-13 18:54:02 GMT)
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A pest is "a plant or animal detrimental to humans or human concerns; alternative meanings include organisms that cause nuisance and epidemic disease associated with high mortality (specifically: plague).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pest_(organism)
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
The Misha
: I think this is totally off the mark, and misleading to boot.
58 mins
|
-1
1 hr
damn thing
Apparently, this babushka of yours doesn't know very well what she is talking about, which is perfectly fine for an old woman in her shoes. Unfortunately, this also seems to be the case with some of the answers suggested here. For one, it doesn't say anywhere it was a Bouncing Betty, and no one would expect the lady to know what the actual name was. Mind you, this is direct speech here, so that's your character talking. Second, you cannot "throw a Bouncing Betty into a trench". An antipersonnel mine, such as a Bouncing Betty, is buried in the ground beforehand, with only the upper spikes sticking out or a trip wire strung above ground, for hope that the enemy would step on or stumble upon it. You could translate it verbatim as a "frog", but that rings no bell with the English speaker - other than being a derogatory for the French or something related to "frogmen", i.e. underwater saboteurs, neither of which is the case here. The old lady simply doesn't know, and it's fine. It's a lyagushka, a zhaba, a bomba, an infernal contraption - a THING. Damn thing too, because it kills and maimes. Whatever that thing is.
Peer comment(s):
disagree |
Alex Khanin
: You seem to second Iryna's suggestion. An by the way, I've never heard "lyagushka" used in this sense. I think your interpretation is flawed.
9 mins
|
Sure thing. Go ahead, throw it into your trench. Just not into mine.
|
|
agree |
Angela Greenfield
: I absolutely agree with your reasoning. My mom survived the occupation and even personally found a ton of those. Ask her now she wouldn't know which was which.//I showed this discussion to some of our military. They had a good laugh. :-) You are dah man.
17 hrs
|
Thanks, Angela (modestly blushing). It's as much about common sense as about the knowledge of subject matter - on which issue you seem to be a much bigger man than yours truly here.
|
|
disagree |
Ali Bayraktar
: Babushka tries to use the correct terminology but not remember a name for it.
1 day 10 hrs
|
disagree |
Gennady Lapardin
: Apparently the babushka had no emotions. She knew very well the difference between various mines. She only pointed out that the device was a small size, like a grenade.
1 day 15 hrs
|
agree |
Natalia Rakhmanova
: А что еще? 5 килограмм не кинешь, остается обычная граната (которая уже упомянута в тексте) и даже pineapple не годится ("ананас" в устах русской бабушки было бы странно).
1 day 21 hrs
|
+2
43 mins
"Bouncing Betty"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-mine
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Note added at 3 hrs (2012-10-13 22:16:07 GMT)
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You can try "pineaple" as a colloqial way to refer to a hand grenade, if you think that the elderly woman doesn't know what it was.
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Note added at 3 hrs (2012-10-13 22:16:07 GMT)
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You can try "pineaple" as a colloqial way to refer to a hand grenade, if you think that the elderly woman doesn't know what it was.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Ali Bayraktar
25 mins
|
Thank you
|
|
agree |
Gennady Lapardin
: It weighs approx. 4 kg and resembles a huge hand grenade. S-mine / Shrapnel-mine
45 mins
|
Thank you
|
|
disagree |
The Misha
: Have you ever tried to throw one into a trench?
50 mins
|
How is it relevant?
|
|
neutral |
James McVay
: I'm with Misha, but I wouldn't go so far as to disagree. "Bouncing Betty" is probably a correct translation for лягушка, but it's a landmine, not a grenade. Not something anyone would want to throw.
2 hrs
|
I merely suggested an answer to the question "Please suggest an equivalent slang term in English [for http://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/лягушка].
|
|
neutral |
Angela Greenfield
: Алекс, я всегда уважаю ваше мнение, но бабушкин язык на военную терминологию периводить - это нечто! Кто же bouncing betty бросает руками???? Вы хоть один пример из истории можете привести? Речь идет об обыкновенной гранате.
18 hrs
|
Спасибо за комплемент, Анджела. Вопрос был задан о мине-лягушке, и я на него ответил. Как перевести - это другой вопрос. Но я не слышал, чтобы "лягушка" говорили о произвольном предмете. Скорее уж "собака". А терминологическую ошибку можно и перевести.
|
|
agree |
Ilya Prishchepov
: Держись, Алекс!
1 day 7 hrs
|
1 hr
Russian term (edited):
\\\"лягушка\\\"
"frog" mine, Bouncy Betty mine (German mine WWII)
This particular was jumping type shrapnel mine. There are jumping land mines today as well. A soldier trips a wire, it jumps up couple of meters (like 6-7 feet), blows up and covers all the area by shrapnel. Still in use throughout the world.
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Note added at 1 hr (2012-10-13 19:54:53 GMT)
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They are pretty small, so you can throw them as hand grenades, but they ARE NOT grenades, they are mines and have to be installed properly for proper action.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2012-10-13 21:21:02 GMT)
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"frog" grenade for the sake of the context with interpreter's remark at the bottom of the page: German small bounding antipersonnel mine, "Bouncy Betty".
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Note added at 4 hrs (2012-10-13 23:00:52 GMT)
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А я бы сказал так: "You know, one of them was ready, pulled out that "froggy"*, the grenade, so he was ready to throw it in our trench, but the other cursed at him, "Are you mad? Listen! Children are crying."
Footnote: "froggy", RUS "lyagushka", WWII German small bounding antipersonnel mine, "Bouncy Betty".
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Note added at 1 hr (2012-10-13 19:54:53 GMT)
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They are pretty small, so you can throw them as hand grenades, but they ARE NOT grenades, they are mines and have to be installed properly for proper action.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2012-10-13 21:21:02 GMT)
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"frog" grenade for the sake of the context with interpreter's remark at the bottom of the page: German small bounding antipersonnel mine, "Bouncy Betty".
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Note added at 4 hrs (2012-10-13 23:00:52 GMT)
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А я бы сказал так: "You know, one of them was ready, pulled out that "froggy"*, the grenade, so he was ready to throw it in our trench, but the other cursed at him, "Are you mad? Listen! Children are crying."
Footnote: "froggy", RUS "lyagushka", WWII German small bounding antipersonnel mine, "Bouncy Betty".
Discussion
Насчет владения бабушкой жаргоном можно задать специальный отдельный вопрос под соответствующей категорией, не Military-Defence.
Есть личная страница, есть форумы, где можно рассказать о прошлой жизни (жизнях), о заслугах, предпочтениях, дать характеристику коллегам и т.д.
Мы все были и есть немножко саперы, но, как сказано ниже, "Что с того?".
А что касается "вес для солдата значения не имеет", то вот интересный пример: Илья повесил фото типичной (или стереотипичной) немецкой гранаты. Такую мы всегда видим в кино, правда же? А ведь она за счет ручки в два раза тяжелее обычной, поэтому использовалась только (или почти только) как ударное, наступательное оружие (ручка позволяет метать ее дальше). А в кармане такую с собой на всякий случай никто не носил. А вот ту, которую я повесила и обычный ананас, носили в карманах, и по статистике гораздо чаще использовали. Так что вес все-таки имеет значение, когда на себе несешь 20 кг. иной нужной в бою утвари.
Поэтому мину-лягушку с собой никто не носил, кроме тех, кому по долгу службы ее положено было в землю укладывать.
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stielhandgranate
Еще раз - дело ваше. В вашей истории бабушка владеет современным военным жаргоном. В моей нет. Какая, собственно, разница? Правда же?
Вот вам небольшая выдержка из спецификаций: The time between triggering and ignition of the propelling charge varied between 3.9 and 4.5 seconds, depending on the age and condition of the mine. According to German documentation, the S-mine was lethal within 20 meters (66 ft) and could inflict casualties within 100 meters (330 ft).[1] American training manuals warned of casualties at up to 140 meters (460 ft).
+ просто Betty. Для "военного" уха будет достаточно. По крайней мере итальянцы так и называют - "Betty saltellante". Созвучно с ит. betta - бойцовая рыбка, и именем арт. инженера Bettica, придумавшего гранатомет (lanciabombe) с дальностью 200 м, вместо 25 м ручного метания. I vote for Betty.
Footnote: "froggy", RUS "lyagushka", WWII German small bounding antipersonnel mine, "Bouncy Betty".
"...one of them... pulled out this, you know, bouncing thing, a grenade...*"...
And the footnote: * Bouncing mine (orig. in Russian: lyagushka) is a bigger explosive device that looks similar to a hand grenade. The old woman obviously has confused two types of weapons.
I'm hoping people here have better knowledge of military slang than me, since all I could find relating to grenades is "frag" and that's not right as it refers to fragmenting grenades.