• Re: Have a nice day!

    From alexander koryagin@2:5020/400 to Ardith Hinton on Fri Jul 6 22:01:02 2018
    From: alexander koryagin <koryagin@erec.ru>

    Hi, Ardith Hinton!
    I read your message from 12.05.2014 00:52

    AH> Now you have me looking again at "Liar, liar, pants on fire". Both
    AH> Mark & I remember it from our childhood. As a kid I never thought
    AH> to ask the other kids what they meant, but I can assure you that in
    AH> my neighbourhood the girls used it to taunt other girls regardless
    AH> of who wore dresses or skirts & who didn't. More info available
    AH> from (thankyou, Dallas!)

    AH> http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/pants-on-fire/

    Maybe it will be interested for you, in Russia we have an idiom like
    this: "Thief's cap is on fire."

    It means that even if a thief hides himself in the crowd, he,
    nevertheless, doesn't look like other people. He is nervous, and his
    behavior is unnatural. When you speak this idiom you mean that somebody
    (a lier, thief etc) betrays himself by some activity or behavior.

    Maybe this Russian idiom has also some distant connection with "Liar
    pants on fire."

    ak>> So, what do they demand to burn, in your copy -- pants or
    ak>> trousers? ;-)

    AH> Good question. It's my understanding too that the US & UK editions
    AH> differ in some respects. For you as a translator, however, I'd say
    AH> the point is that if you can get your work published the editors
    AH> might well massage the dialect to suit a particular market... so I
    AH> wouldn't lose sleep over it. ;-)

    But sometimes editors are too shameless in their corrections. Actually
    many of them try not to just correct, but _to improve!_ the text. Look
    what the American editors made with Rowling's British text:

    Example from the book of Hurry Potter: https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070423094014AAw8A4N -----Beginning of the citation-----
    in book 4
    IN UK
    Harry was passionate about Quidditch. He had played as Seeker on the Gryffindor house Quidditch team ever since his first year at Hogwarts
    and owned a Firebolt, one of the best racing brooms in the world.
    IN US
    Harry had been on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team ever since his
    first year at Hogwarts and owned one of the best racing brooms in the
    world, a Firebolt. Flying came more naturally to Harry than anything
    else in the magical world, and he played in the position of Seeker on
    the Gryffindor House team.
    -----The end of the citation-----

    Can you imagine it? The US version is almost twice longer!

    Another example:
    -----Beginning of the citation-----
    in "Half Blood Prince"

    The UK version:
    "He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."
    "Come over to the right side Draco, and we can hide you more
    completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send
    members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise, and
    your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban".

    The US edition:
    "He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."
    "He cannot kill you if you are already dead. Come over to the right
    side Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly
    imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother
    tonight to hide her likewise. Nobody would be surprised that you had
    died in your attempt to kill me - forgive me, but Lord Voldemort
    probably expects it. Nor would the Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your mother - it is what they would do themselves,
    after all. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban."
    -----The end of the citation-----

    Bye, Ardith!
    Alexander Koryagin
    fido7.english-tutor 2014
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  • From alexander koryagin@2:5020/400 to mark lewis on Fri Jul 6 22:01:02 2018
    From: alexander koryagin <koryagin@erec.ru>

    Hi, mark lewis!
    I read your message from 12.05.2014 14:13

    ak>> Well.... Rowling is a British, so, if she writes about
    ak>> pants
    ml>
    ml> Rowling is British [...]
    ml> OR
    ml> Rowling is a Brit [...]

    Yeah, "a British" is wrong.

    PS: Although it is strange a bit. In plural it should be Brits, but
    Brits are Celtic tribes that inhabited England before it was conquered
    by Anglo-Saxon tribes.
    Probably, it is better to say in the way we speak of the French:
    _the French_ are the people of the French nationality, but there is a Frenchman and a Frenchwoman. So, in the UK we have the British, a
    British man, a British woman.

    PPS: Also I heard of a Briton.

    Bye, mark!
    Alexander Koryagin
    fido7.english-tutor 2014
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