KudoZ: term help for translators

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Russian term

Deborah Hoffman

994 questions

на рыбьем меху

Russian to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

Full sentence: Мороз под 40, а одежонка на рыбьем меху.

The 2 native Russian speakers I've asked in "real life" have never heard of this expression. The speaker is remembering the 1930s, so it may be an older expression.

Proposed translations (English)

4 +12	a euphemism for very shabby, not warm	Marina Aleyeva
4 +1	"without any fur " OR sometimes "with artificial fur"	Alexander Onishko
4 +1	flimsy (of clothes)	Jack slep
3 +1	furred as a fish/frog/toad, in a fish/frog/toad furring, furred so good as the fish is	George Vardanyan
4	giving no protection from the cold; with no wormth in it (of a poor ragged (shabby) coat)))	Nik-On/Off
4	wretched clothes	Andrew Vdovin
3 +1	Не ответ (Это интересно :)	odaj

Discussion

Blithe Oct 27, 2005: If you find it a common expression or rare might depend on the area of Russia. It is very common in Moscow, I can vouch for that.
Crio Oct 27, 2005: I can tell you from the first-hand experience that imitation fur is no good at -40C. =)
Crio Oct 27, 2005: A small addition to Kirill: Sometimes this expression is used for closes that use imitation fur - again, to stress its inferior warming qualities. Do this apply to your case - it is impossible to tell without more context.
Kirill Semenov Oct 27, 2005: The sentence means that the person's clothing is too bad and light for the cold weather like this.
Kirill Semenov Oct 27, 2005: A rare idiom... It means clothes of a poor man, which warms no better than fish's scale. Obviously, fish doesn't have any fur, so it's a bad clothing to wear when it's very cold.

Proposed translations

+12

5 mins

Marina Aleyeva

Israel

1296 answers

Native in Russian

Works in field

Russian term (edited): ��

Selected

a euphemism for very shabby, not warm

I've heard this more than once before

Peer comment(s):

agree	Kirill Semenov : still I would say the idiom is rare enough. I can believe many native Russians never have never heard of it. 8 mins
	It does look a bit outdated or at least out of place in an urban culture, perhaps fitting better in a rural setting. I think I've seen it in books, maybe not heard in a real life situation, though it does not sound totally unfamiliar.
agree	koundelev 54 mins
	Thank you
agree	Larissa Dinsley : I have heard it often enough. Does it mean I am too old? :) 1 hr
	Oh No :)
agree	Olga Judina : Для меня это совершенно обычное выражение. Многие мои близкие и знакомые его упортебляют, правда, никогда не имея в виду искусственный мех, только одежду, которая не греет 2 hrs
	Совершенно верно. Не понимаю, откуда возникла такая версия. Спасибо!
agree	Irina Romanova-Wasike : don't consider myself as too old :), but expression sounds quite common to me 2 hrs
	So it does to me! Thank you.
agree	tanyazst 2 hrs
	Thank you.
agree	Elena Ivaniushina : никогда не слышала применительно к искусственному меху - только к одежде, которая попросту не греет, ничем не подбита / да, конечно. Собственно, я отчасти комментировала не только Ваш ответ, но и другие :) 3 hrs
	Я уверена, что искусственный мех ни при чем (если, конечно, где-нибудь на северном полюсе не водятся рыбы на искусственном меху). Выражение-то вообще ироническое! Спасибо :)
agree	Elina Rokhkind 3 hrs
	Thank you.
agree	Freimanis 4 hrs
	Thank you.
agree	Blithe : a very common Russian expression 10 hrs
	Thanks
agree	Sergei Tumanov 10 hrs
agree	Natalie 12 hrs

4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I ended up using an idiom that means a similar thing "so thin you could read a newspaper through it." Thanks!"

38 mins

Alexander Onishko

7155 answers

Native in Russian

Russian term (edited): ��

"without any fur " OR sometimes "with artificial fur"

figurative meaning - the clothes which will not make you warm

Peer comment(s):

agree	Сергей Лузан : 'with artificial fur' most likely, or some kind of fur imitation and figurative meaning is implied no doubts here. 1 hr
	Спасибо, Сергей !

1 hr

George Vardanyan

2395 answers

Native in Russian

Specializes in field

Russian term (edited): ��

furred as a fish/frog/toad, in a fish/frog/toad furring, furred so good as the fish is

clothed/furred as a fish/frog/toad, in fish/frog/toad furring, clothed/furred so good as the fish is

Peer comment(s):

agree

Margarita : I like 'clothed so good as the fish is'

6 days

1 hr

Nik-On/Off

Ukraine

3896 answers

Native in Russian

Russian term (edited): ��

giving no protection from the cold; with no wormth in it (of a poor ragged (shabby) coat)))

Из Русско-английского фразеологического словаря:
На Вере Ивановне пальтишко на рыбьем меху, тонкие чулки и батинки, вокруг шеи легкий шелковый платок. (Ю. Нагибин, "Дети лепят из снега")
Vera Ivanovna... is wearing a poor coat with no warmth in it, thin stockings and shoes, and a light silk kerchief round her neck.

56 mins

Andrew Vdovin

3924 answers

Native in Russian

Works in field

Russian term (edited): ��

wretched clothes

Or unpadded clothes, or even both.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 24 mins (2005-10-27 07:06:29 GMT)
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my (his, their, etc) outerwear was outworn... :-)

Or: my clothes were a poor shell.
Or: I wore a poor shell of clothes.

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Note added at 1 hr 33 mins (2005-10-27 07:15:30 GMT)
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ИЛИ: garments that no longer hold together

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Note added at 1 hr 38 mins (2005-10-27 07:21:19 GMT)
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Или вот еще такое выражение есть: seedy clothes.

Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), a mentally unstable homeless man in slightly seedy clothes and overcoat, is caught and tranquilized by government or corporate ...
efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1495&reviewer=402

She made sarcastic comments about his seedy clothes, his bad grammar, and his scuffed shoes. Any man who had the nerve to ask a girl out for an evening and ...
collectedstories.com/files/storytime/sensibleshoes.html

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 45 mins (2005-10-27 07:27:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Или: threadbare clothes
Или, в конце концов, - duds

I saw villagers in threadbare clothes living in small wooden houses without complaining. I thought to myself, here I was dissatisfied at times that I do not ...
www.adventist.org.sg/newsletter/dec1998jan1999.htm

... have been friendly, and with all the fur coats and hats and high heeled boots we've seen, I doubt anyone here would be interested in our poor duds. ...
alumnisandstorm.com/htm2005/2005-01-Jan.htm

4 hrs

odaj

Ukraine

245 answers

Не ответ (Это интересно :)

Мех рыбий - точнее, прочная и нежная (нежнее перчаточной замши} рыбья кожа, особым образом обработанная, - до недавних пор материал для одежды и прочего у жителей Приамурья; русское ироническое выражение «шуба на рыбьем меху» (то есть холодная) в Приамурском крае, вероятно, осталось бы непонятным. Чтобы получить такую кожу, рыбу чистят, валят часа три-четыре, снимают кожу костяным ножом, подсушивают ее, очищают от чешуи; затем смоченные в бульоне из рыбьих голов шкурки закладывают комком в чурку и отбивают, не давая распрямиться. На следующий день шкурки кроят специальными ножами. Сшивают детали нитками из той же рыбьей кожи. Готовая одежда украшается узорными трафаретами на рыбьем клею, вышитыми матерчатыми полосками, стеклянными подвесками бахромой.

Reference:

http://www.sarafan.ru/san/Ms/FashionVoc/article220.html

Peer comment(s):

agree	Margarita : спасибо! 5 days
	И Вам спасибо ;-)!

11 hrs

Jack slep

1649 answers

Native in English

flimsy (of clothes)

This definition is given Novyi Bol'shi Russko-Angliiskii Slovar', so it must be a rather common expression. Also, there are quite a few sites in Goggle with на рыбьем меху, some with reference to fashion shows.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2005-10-27 17:02:53 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

КЮ: \"Чудеса на рыбьем меху\"

... eXclusive Banner Network. Чудеса на рыбьем меху
Вячеслва Нат Пародии. «Все пишешь и ...
humor.pccenter.ru/?id=3505 - 21k - Supplemental Result - Cached - Similar pages

Новые Известия / Купальник на рыбьем ...

Купальник на рыбьем меху. Бразильские дизайнеры показали москвичам, что ...
www.newizv.ru/news/?id_news=12511&date=2004-10-01 - 44k - Supplemental Result - Cached - Similar pages

КЮ: Чудеса на рыбьем меху

... КЮ\" (http://humor.21.ru). Чудеса на рыбьем меху Вячеслва Нат. «Все пишешь и пишешь ...
humor.21.ru/print.phtml?id=3505 - 5k - Supplemental Result - Cached - Similar pages

КЮ: \"Чудеса на рыбьем меху\"

Конкурс Юмористических Произведений \"КЮ\", http://humor.
21.ru. Чудеса на рыбьем меху Вячеслва Нат. ...
humor.21.ru/comments.phtml?id=3505 - 16k - Supplemental Result - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from humor.21.ru ]

Импортная шуба на «рыбьем меху»

Импортная шуба на «рыбьем меху» ... В основном (80% общего числа) предъявляемые
на экспертизу товары имеют скрытые производственные дефекты, выявившиеся в ...
www.expertiza.ru/expertiza.phtml?id=270 - 25k - Cached - Similar pages

Smokeroom: Импортная шуба на «рыбьем ...

Импортная шуба на «рыбьем меху», Курилка создана. Добро пожаловать в КУРИЛКУ! ...
www.expertiza.ru/smokeroom.phtml?doc=270 - 22k

Peer comment(s):

agree	Simon Gregory : brief and clear: often such clothing do not close a body 8 hrs
	Thank you Simon!

Russian term

на рыбьем меху

Discussion

Proposed translations

a euphemism for very shabby, not warm

Something went wrong...

"without any fur " OR sometimes "with artificial fur"

Something went wrong...

furred as a fish/frog/toad, in a fish/frog/toad furring, furred so good as the fish is

Something went wrong...

giving no protection from the cold; with no wormth in it (of a poor ragged (shabby) coat)))

Something went wrong...

wretched clothes

Something went wrong...

Не ответ (Это интересно :)

Something went wrong...

flimsy (of clothes)

Something went wrong...