Jul 24, 2013 11:31
10 yrs ago
Russian term
United Kingdom
Translator since 1953
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, German to English, English
инфузории-туфельки
Russian to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Общение с дочерью успокоило Юру. Конечно, в погоне за удовольствиями его девочки ведут себя как ***инфузории-туфельки***, но за столько лет он уже к ним привык. Что делать, если он любит этих инфузорий в этих туфельках. Такова его судьба.
Yura's wife and daughter are getting into trouble during a trip to Paris. It must mean that they are behaving recklessly, scattily, thoughtlessly, something like that. But the only meaning for инфузория-туфелька I can find is a microorganism called Paramecium caudata (if it has a name in English I can't find it), so can anyone throw some light on the subject?
Yura's wife and daughter are getting into trouble during a trip to Paris. It must mean that they are behaving recklessly, scattily, thoughtlessly, something like that. But the only meaning for инфузория-туфелька I can find is a microorganism called Paramecium caudata (if it has a name in English I can't find it), so can anyone throw some light on the subject?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | Like crazy |
LilianNekipelov
|
| 5 +1 | silly |
Maria Mizguireva
|
| 4 | slipper animalcule |
Alex Khanin
|
| 4 | brainless - see explanation |
Alla_K
|
Proposed translations
33 mins
LilianNekipelov
United States
United States
Native in English
Specializes in field
United States
Legal and literary translator. Linguist.
Native in: English (Variants: British, US) 
, Polish (Variant: Standard-Poland)
Works in: Russian to English, Polish to English, Swedish to English
Related KudoZ points
:
16
Selected
Like crazy
The men are trying to gain the favors of that woman "like crazy',. The term in question refers to the lowest alive organisms and is a symbol of low intelligence in Russian.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 56 mins (2013-07-24 12:28:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
The meaning of the phrase is -- "without thinking, like crazy", but perhaps you can use "like plankton" here, although I am not sure if it will be correctly understood.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 56 mins (2013-07-24 12:28:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
The meaning of the phrase is -- "without thinking, like crazy", but perhaps you can use "like plankton" here, although I am not sure if it will be correctly understood.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you. You gave the best explanation."
5 mins
Alex Khanin
Germany
Germany
Native in Russian
Specializes in field
Germany
Pushing the envelope of meaning
Native in: Russian 
Works in: German to Russian, English to Russian, Hebrew to Russian, and 18 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
24
slipper animalcule
they are on the school curriculum
+1
2 hrs
Maria Mizguireva
United States
United States
Native in Russian
United States
Eng-Russian. Accounting, Finance
Native in: Russian (Variant: Standard-Russia)
Works in: English to Russian
Related KudoZ points
:
4
4 hrs
brainless - see explanation
The girls (wife and daughter?) behave guided by their simplest (basic) instincts as if having no brains at all. In the translation they can be compared with any suitable invertebrate animal or microb to create a methaphor.
Discussion
[...] in their thirst for pleasure his girls behaved as if they were slipper animalcules [...]
But so it goes, for he loves these animalcules in these slippers. [...]
Used metaphorically, "инфузория-туфелька" denotes a flippant and a bit simple-minded person.
Something like that... Just an idea...