31.08.15 Summer never lasts long (as all good things do!) We take the last whiff of summer and brace ourselves for the next academic year. The Ministry for education and science of the Ukraine has always tried to contribute something to the atmophere. At best those contributions were moderately stupid, but in 2015 the Ministry has certainly outsmarted itself by the scandalous recommendation to rely on "patriotism" (Приказ Министерства и образования науки Украины от 16.06.2015 № 641)

Those poor fellers in the Ministry must have really run out of ideas and sound mind to have produced this extraordinary bit of idiocy!

22.08.15 "The New-York Times" about the Ukraine: "A year after the election of Petro O. Poroshenko as president to replace the ousted Viktor F. Yanukovych, and six months after the swearing in of a new legislature, Ukraine remains deeply mired in political and economic chaos".

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world/europe/in-ukraine-corruption-concerns-linger-a-year-after-a-revolution.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

20.08.15 The Russian linguist Alexander Vasilyevitch Terenin considers укроп to be a blend of two names (a telescopic formation): Украина + Европа. This interpretation meets the cognitive scenario "Ukraine is Europe" advanced by some people who learnt to jump, but lost the mental abilities altogether.

17.08.15 Reclaiming a name is a very interesting part of human communication. This is how it is presented in the Guardian through a translation into English of the Russian-Ukrainian word укроп:

Shaun Walker  Monday 10 August 2015 15.50 BST

“The only country that eats even more dill than Russia is Ukraine. I’ve even seen a dill fajita in Kiev. And the war has bought a surprising new twist to the dill story. The pro-Russia rebels nicknamed the Ukrainians “dill” (Ukraine and the Russian for dill, ukrop, share the same first three letters). The Ukrainians responded by reclaiming the name and setting up “dill battalions” of paramilitaries, who go into battle with dill logos sewn into their combat fatigues. Dill armies: it’s like something from a feverish dystopian nightmare I might have had a few years ago”.

7.08.15 The Guardian about fascists and information wars: "Putin slammed recent attempts “to create a unipolar world”, and the language of the second world war has often been invoked to describe the fight against “fascism” in Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities, meanwhile, have banned a number of Russian films which they say distort history, and have introduced controversial new laws outlawing all signs and symbols of the Communist period and honouring nationalist Ukrainian fighters who collaborated with the Nazis for part of the war". http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/05/russian-region-bans-british-historians-books-from-schools

1.08.15 What's in a name? A piece of news from the BBC:

A little baby with a big name. This is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, the daughter of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 

Elizabeth is a tribute to her great-grandmother, the British monarch. 

The baby was also named after her paternal grandmother, the late Princess Diana. 

The birth of the fourth in line to the British throne was marked by gun salutes.  

27.07.15 The great Thomas Paine once said, "The government even in its best state is but a necessary evil". The people of the Ukraine have to deal with the government in its worst state, the government that is cheating, lying, double-dealing and stealing, stealing, stealing...

17.07.15 A fuzzy diplomatic approval (in red) by the US leader:

Asked if President Vladimir Putin of Russia was a help or a hindrance in concluding this deal, Mr. Obama said: “Russia was a help on this. I’ll be honest with you. I was not sure given the strong differences we are having with Russia right now around Ukraine, whether this would sustain itself. Putin and the Russian government compartmentalized on this in a way that surprised me, and we would have not achieved this agreement had it not been for Russia’s willingness to stick with us and the other P5-Plus members in insisting on a strong deal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/opinion/thomas-friedman-obama-makes-his-case-on-iran-nuclear-deal.html

14 июля в своем интервью журналисту Тому Фридману (Tom Friedman) из New York Times Обама положительно оценил роль Путина: «Россия помогла нам в этом. Буду с вами откровенен. Учитывая наши серьезные разногласия с Россией по поводу Украины, я не был уверен, что все получится. Путин и российское правительство так разделили эти вопросы, что я был удивлен, и мы не достигли бы этого соглашения, если бы не готовность России поддержать нас и других членов Группы „5+1“ в стремлении настоять на сильной сделке».
14.07.15 One more "Greek" portmanteau unit: “AGreekment” reached after all night EU emergency summit in Brussels"

(13/07 17:48 CET) Such units are easily understood but not readily translated because the mechanism of the pun in most cases must be deplorably neutralized with the corresponding loss of stylistic information:"В результате чрезвычайных переговоров ЕС достиг с Грецией компромисса".

11.07.15 BBC about new portmanteau units:

Grexit: Short for "Greek exit" from the eurozone. First coined by financial analysts in 2012 and now a real and looming possibility. Not to be confused with "Brexit" - the possibility of Britain leaving the EU.

Greferendum: Another handy portmanteau - short for "Greek referendum". A controversial vote was held on 5 July, when more than 60% of Greek voters said No to the austerity conditions imposed by Greece's creditors. It was a triumph for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras - though any new bailout deal is likely to mean more painful austerity.

7.07.15  The Russian translation illustrates one of the main devices in the strategy of domestication: that of emphatization (the abstract unit of the original is substituted for a metaphorical one): The Ukrainian Ministry of Interior brings what one U.S. official calls a “mishmash” of troops, consisting of volunteers, members of militia battalions and official army to be trained

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/04/is-the-u-s-training-neo-nazis-in-ukraine.html

Министерство внутренних дел Украины направляет «сборную солянку», как назвал ее один американский чиновник, состоящую из добровольцев, членов вооруженных формирований и военнослужащих украинской армии на подготовку. http://inosmi.ru/usa/20150705/228936736.html

mishmash ['mɪʃmæʃ] мешанина, смесь, смешение Syn: mixture , blend

If you resort to a backtranslation test you will discover the natural correspondences for «сборную солянку» to be grab bag, motley crew, hotchpotch, hodgepodge.

30.06.15 BBC about unusual people: "Jimmy Nelson makes his living seducing tribes. While other Westerners see novelty in native tribesmen, Nelson sees beauty. He’s not the type to snap their photo and then jump on the first bus out of the village, never to be seen again. Instead, the 46-year-old Briton builds trust with communities, putting the native people on a pedestal and glorifying them in the hope that in honouring their culture, we might somehow preserve it." 

Think about finding a Russian substitue for seducing - not an easy task! Добиваться расположения is perhaps one of the closest choices.

22.06.15  An American needs a passport only if he goes abroad (the driver's licence is sufficient for interior identification). That's why inosmi.ru chose to specify "passport" of the original through загранпаспорт:

"if you speak three or more languages, you are multilingual. If you speak two languages, you are bilingual. If you speak only one language, you are American. And if you speak only one language, have never studied geography, and do not have a passport, you are probably a member of Congress".

"если ты говоришь на трех и более языках, ты полиглот. Если ты владеешь двумя языками, ты билингв. Если ты знаешь только один язык, ты американец. А если ты говоришь лишь на одном языке, никогда не изучал географию, если у тебя нет загранпаспорта, то ты наверняка член конгресса".Читать далее: http://inosmi.ru/world/20150618/228651764.html#ixzz3dOFdVvNg

16.06.15  Finian  Cunningham: "On the east Ukraine conflict, it is in fact reliably reported by the Minsk ceasefire monitoring group of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that the latest surge in violence is coming from the Western-backed Kiev regime. That violence includes the shelling of residential centres in Donetsk City and surrounding towns and villages, which has resulted in dozens of civilian deaths over the past week.

How the British and American governments can make out that Russia is the aggressor and is subverting the Minsk ceasefire is simply a prejudicial assertion that is based on no facts. Moreover, such a view is a distortion of the facts to the point of telling barefaced lies". http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/06/14/the-anglo-american-insanity.html

15.06.15 The British historian Orlando Figes about Western stereotypes: "Russians are Asians, Huns, demons, while we are not. Ukrainians are good, Russians are bad. In the 19th century the Poles were the good guys and the Russians were bad. This is simplistic discourse which leads us nowhere."

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150614/1023337164.html#ixzz3d6Uy1nSO

11.06.15  Some people are naive enough to think that the USA is genuinely interested in the Ukraine. Nonsense! Most Americans wil be in difficulties to find the Ukraine on the map: "Washington supported the anti-Russian Maidan movement in Kiev in part to undermine and further isolate a Russia that, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, had recovered both its self-sufficiency, its pride, and—in the US view—its obstinance". http://m.thenation.com/article/209329-ukraine-crisis-heres-why-west-cant-save-it

7.06.15 The authors of this book counter the fraudulent Western narrative on Ukraine "FLASHPOINT IN UKRAINE" How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III edited by Stephen Lendman.

31.05.15 Here is a statement from the russophobic “Economist”: “After a year-long war, people in Donbas are not prepared to be governed by Kiev”.

http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21652339-vladimir-putin-concocts-new-story-ukraine-leaving-west-wondering-what-he-up?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/alternative_reality

28.05.15 Deplorably, there are not so many students who are ready to cofront the challenges of translating pun. One of the most inspiring pieces on the nature of pun can be found here: http://www.science-education.ru/121-19323

27.05.15 The quotation to think about: "Majority sentiment in Crimea is deeply alienated from Ukraine, and supportive of its annexation by Russia irrespective of legality". Where is the logic: if Crimea is deeply alienated from Ukraine then there must be no annexation!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/05/25/what-people-in-southeast-ukraine-really-think-of-novorossiya/

20.05.15 The correspondence underlined is not supported by the dictionary, but fits in with the context: At its best, this can mean that you will always know that your pals truly have your back, and there are no people who make more faithful friends.

Это как нельзя лучше показывает, что ты будешь всегда уверен в том, что твои друзья по-настоящему тебя поддерживают, и что нет более верных друзей, чем они.

Читать далее: http://inosmi.ru/russia/20150520/228131064.html#ixzz3aeq5scwi
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17.05.15 Do you know anything about a two-finger test? Unlikely. While the test has been hitting the headlines of Euronews for several days running, no one in Russia or other republics of the former Soviet Union gives a damn about it. Though Charles Bally claimed that Europeans belong to the same culture irrespective of the language differences, the two-finger test shows how far apart we can sometimes be.  This is a virginity test. Virginity testing is very controversial, both because of its implications for tested girls and women and because it is viewed as unethical.

16.05.15 A piece of opinion from Forbes:

In its statements about the ongoing negotiations, Ukraine has taken a very strange rhetorical line that fixates on the achievement of the IMF’s objectives. But the international creditors, which appear to be informally led by the Franklin Templeton investment firm, are not a part of the IMF program. They did not buy Ukraine’s debt in order to achieve macroeconomic stability and they are not particularly concerned with the long-term health of Ukraine’s government finances. Their primary interest, their only interest really, is for Ukraine to pay its bills on time and in full.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markadomanis/2015/05/13/ukraine-still-doesnt-have-a-deal-with-its-creditors/

9.05.15  Today we are marking the Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War. 70 years ago the victorious troops of the Red Army broke the back of the Nazi Germany. For most countries of Western Europe it is a low-key affair for different reasons: some of them invaded the Soviet Union and fought against the Red Army on the side of the Germans (most of them betrayed their lords and switched sides at the end of the war). Some countries were hiding in the comfortable "neutrality". It is for the first time that Ukraine celebrates the 9th of May as the low-key affair under a new symbol - the poppy. Those bastards at the top must be arrogant fools to believe that they are capable of changing our traditions by fiat, Let St. George's ribbons fly! Let us remember our forefathers in the way we always did!