Машина в нерабочем состоянии

English translation: car is acting up

10:28 Sep 29, 2016
Russian to English translations [PRO]
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Russian term or phrase: Машина в нерабочем состоянии
Здравствуйте. Подскажите, пожалуйста, как лучше перевести это выражение. Вот это место в ролике: https://youtu.be/npUAjifosxE?t=4m5s

Водитель разговаривает с активистами после того, как он прокатил одного из них на капоте:

- Вас в Волгограде так научили ездить?

- Да, в Волгограде.

- Вы считаете это нормально?

- Блин, у меня машина в нерабочем состоянии, она сейчас заглохнет!
Mikola
Russian Federation
Local time: 16:58
English translation:car is acting up
Explanation:
I believe "out of order" would imply that something is broken, which doesn't seem to be the case here: the car in the video is still running, isn't it? Besides, (I may be wrong on this one though) I've always thought that "out of order'' refers more to household appliances like air-conditioners, fridges, TV-sets, etc and equipment in the broader sense of the word, but not to cars.
The bottom line is that I don't think that saying "my car is out of order" would be the correct way to put it. Instead one could say "my car is acting /up/crazy/weird/" or "my car broke down", if she has indeed broken down.
Selected response from:

El oso
Russian Federation
Grading comment
Спасибо!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2out of order
VASKON
4 +2car is acting up
El oso
4 +2on the blink
Rachel Douglas


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
out of order


Explanation:


VASKON
Russian Federation
Local time: 16:58
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  rns
10 mins
  -> Спасибо! )

agree  Jack Doughty
10 mins
  -> Thank you, Mr. Doughty!
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
car is acting up


Explanation:
I believe "out of order" would imply that something is broken, which doesn't seem to be the case here: the car in the video is still running, isn't it? Besides, (I may be wrong on this one though) I've always thought that "out of order'' refers more to household appliances like air-conditioners, fridges, TV-sets, etc and equipment in the broader sense of the word, but not to cars.
The bottom line is that I don't think that saying "my car is out of order" would be the correct way to put it. Instead one could say "my car is acting /up/crazy/weird/" or "my car broke down", if she has indeed broken down.

El oso
Russian Federation
PRO pts in category: 200
Grading comment
Спасибо!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Rachel Douglas: Except don't call the car "she," it's an "it," unless some particular romantic point is being made. / Yeah, I knew where it came from. And in English some inanimate things, like ships, really are always "she." Not cars, usually, only sometimes.
26 mins
  -> That's just my ineradicable Russian nature kicking in: as you know "машина" in Russian is "она". I guess I will never be able to claim to be a native English speaker :-( Thank you for your support :)

agree  Tatiana Lammers: +1 with Rachel
28 mins
  -> Thank you!

neutral  VASKON: El oso, there is no need in any Freudianism. Take care, this way you might end up changing you Mother tongue! Oxford Dictionary explains "on the blink" (of a machine) as a "not working properly; out of order". It breaks down when it stops working at all)
2 hrs
  -> Freudianism? Take care? And who says I want to change my mother tongue? (not to mention that my mother didn't speak a word of Russian). All I said was that I could never hope to pass myself off as a native English speaker without being unmasked :-)

agree  Allison Keating
3 hrs
  -> Thank you!

disagree  Sergey Lev: Сожалею, но «acting up» не согласуется со смыслом ни вообще, ни в контексте видеоролика. С большой натяжкой можно было бы согласиться насчёт «acting weird», если водитель действительно ощутил, что с движком что-то не в порядке.
6 hrs
  -> Pls see discussion
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
on the blink


Explanation:
Other possibilities:
on its last legs
not running too well
got something wrong with it



Rachel Douglas
United States
Local time: 09:58
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 244

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  El oso: Will note for my future use, with your permission
29 mins
  -> Thank you. Of course.

agree  Sergey Lev: I think that's the best guess, along with the first additional one, the rest are not conveying the meaning accurately enough. "On the verge" would be fine too, probably.
1 hr
  -> On the verge of what? If you say "on the verge" or "on the bRink," it has to be OF something. What I wrote is "on the bLink," which means not working right. But, thanks.
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