Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Russian term or phrase:
миг, который называется жизнью
English translation:
that fleeting moment we call life
Added to glossary by
Andrew Vdovin
May 12, 2007 06:23
17 yrs ago
Russian term
DELVING into DETAIL
Native in: Russian 
Works in: English to Russian, Russian, Russian to English, and 2 more.
миг, который называется жизнью
Russian to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Три недели - это всего лишь мгновение в судьбе человека. Или это тот самый миг, который называется жизнью?
Здесь налицо отсылка к известной каждому русскоязычному читателю песне из кинофильма "Земля Санникова":
...Есть только миг между прошлым и будущим -
Именно он называется "жизнь"...
Возникает вопрос: как поступить при переводе? Быть может, следует отыскать какую-нибудь похожую и достаточно известную цитату в английском? Не обязательно из песни.
Здесь налицо отсылка к известной каждому русскоязычному читателю песне из кинофильма "Земля Санникова":
...Есть только миг между прошлым и будущим -
Именно он называется "жизнь"...
Возникает вопрос: как поступить при переводе? Быть может, следует отыскать какую-нибудь похожую и достаточно известную цитату в английском? Не обязательно из песни.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+2
6 hrs
Alexander Demyanov
Native in Russian
Specializes in field
Software Engineering background
Native in: Russian
Works in: English, Russian, Russian to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
112
Selected
that fleeting moment we call life
43
Drink wine.
Wine gives you a taste of the eternal life.
Wine is the magic potion that can restore youth, that
divine season of roses, of intoxication, of sincere friends.
Enjoy this fleeting moment we call life.
http://www.homepages.hetnet.nl/~hansvanrossum/rubaiyat2.html
Drink wine.
Wine gives you a taste of the eternal life.
Wine is the magic potion that can restore youth, that
divine season of roses, of intoxication, of sincere friends.
Enjoy this fleeting moment we call life.
http://www.homepages.hetnet.nl/~hansvanrossum/rubaiyat2.html
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I like your version most, Alexander. Thank you very much for your help! Thanks everybody!!!"
+2
15 mins
Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Specializes in field
United Kingdom
Translator since 1953
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, German to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
658
Life's but a passing shadow
Usually misquoted in this form, though it should be "walking shadow"
From Macbeth, by William Shakespeare.
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
From Macbeth, by William Shakespeare.
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Henry Schroeder
: You went even further than I did, amusing that we were thinking along similar lines. Perhaps an anglo-russo-american Prozgeist?
4 mins
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|
Thank you. Is yours a quotation from something? I don't recognize it.
|
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| agree |
Galina F
3 hrs
|
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Thank you.
|
15 mins
Roman Bardachev
Canada
Canada
Native in Russian
Canada
University Degree in Translation
Native in: Russian
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
20
(brief) moment called life
Or is this a brief moment called life?
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2007-05-12 06:40:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
THE brief moment
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2007-05-12 06:40:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
THE brief moment
+5
17 mins
Henry Schroeder
United States
United States
Native in English
Specializes in field
United States
20 years of experience, certified, ATA
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
Works in: German to English, Russian to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
174
is that flash what we call life
Three weeks is just a flash in the pan. Or is that (very) flash what we call life?
An attempt at a more poetic rendering of "moment"
I wouldn't worry about the allusion to the song, unless it's actually in the text.
An attempt at a more poetic rendering of "moment"
I wouldn't worry about the allusion to the song, unless it's actually in the text.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Roman Bardachev
: the (very) flash we call life. хорошо сказано
4 mins
|
| agree |
David Knowles
: I think this wins over Shakespeare because of the reuse of "flash"
1 hr
|
| agree |
Olga Arakelyan
3 hrs
|
| agree |
Andrew Sabak
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Faina Furman
9 hrs
|
| neutral |
Olga Cartlidge
: This is does not capture what the speaker is saying at all. ("Effort/ person that promises great success but fails: His second novel proved to be a flash in the pan. We had high hopes for the new director, but she was a flash in the pan." Answers.com).
2 days 13 hrs
|
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Merriam Webster: briefly successful or popular. The idiom doesn't have anything to do with "promising" except maybe that this brief period of success gives rise to promise. All it say is these 3 weeks were a brief period that wouldn't return.
|
10 hrs
Vladimir Dubisskiy
United States
United States
Native in Russian
Specializes in field
United States
UNSURPASSABLE EXPERIENCE
Native in: Russian , Ukrainian
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English, Ukrainian to English, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
36
a spin we call life
i'd use 'spin' and did not go for any цитату в английском (The notion is well-researched :-)) and applies by all cultures).
2 days 8 hrs
Tevah_Trans
Native in Russian
&
English
Specializes in field
MS Industrial Engineering; MBA
Native in: English , Russian
Works in: Russian to English, English to Russian
Related KudoZ points
:
64
... life - that's what happens while we're making other plans...
This is not a direct answer - but maybe you can use it in structuring the sentence in a way that's suitable, something like: Three weeks - just a fleeting instant in a man's life - or maybe it's exactly what we call life itself - that which happens while we're making plans...
Or whatever.
I still think that Alexander's option is the best of all offered here.
Or whatever.
I still think that Alexander's option is the best of all offered here.
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