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он (в контексте)
электронное устройство вывода или вывода и ввода информации
Apr 30, 2012 20:12
12 yrs ago
Russian term

С завидным постоянством

Russian to English Other Other
С завидным постоянством, вместо монетки на счастье, люди сами бросаются в фонтаны.

А как бы поидиоматичнее?
Вариант - with enviable constancy - смущает, т.к. встречается в основном на переводных сайтах.

Спасибо!
Proposed translations (English)
3 +3 All too often
3 Instead of throwing ... .... people are amazingly prone/apt to plunge there themselves
2 with reprehensible persistency (*here)

Discussion

Oleksiy Markunin (asker) May 1, 2012:
Thanks, everyone, for your input.
Misha, you should post your asnwer.
Rachel Douglas May 1, 2012:
свиньи? Where does it say anything about piggish behavior? Many fountains are sparkling clean, not like a muddy pig wallow. Maybe people are jumping in out of enthusiasm. Like these nice young guys at Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu/~oktour/virtualtour/french/Hist03-F... (Of course, Princetonians like George Shultz are also rumored to get tigers tatooed on their rear ends, but that's another matter.) / I like Misha's suggestion of "regularity" - "with impressive regularity."
The Misha May 1, 2012:
Regularity Mikhail's all too often sure dos work. Or you can also say regularity - as in with admirable/noteworthy regularity. Something like that. There's a tinge of sarcasm to it too, just like in the original.
Leonid K.U. Apr 30, 2012:
weird Если люди как свиньи бросаютcя в фонтаны - откуда здеcь "завидное потоянство"? Этот оборот нормально же используется в положительных утверждениях.
Rachel Douglas Apr 30, 2012:
In reply to your question... "More often than one could hope for"
I wouldn't use that, because it implies that the reader/observer has some hopes in the matter, but I doubt he does. That's why "admirable" or "impressive" are nice, in my view.
Oleksiy Markunin (asker) Apr 30, 2012:
Mikhail, Причина в тексте отсутствует. Просто речь о том, что люди свиньи. Это вскользь упоминается. Сам текст о фонтанах в целом.
Mikhail Kropotov Apr 30, 2012:
"With admirable consistency" perhaps?
But I suspect "All too often" would suffice here.
Can you glean enough from the source to tell why people plunging into fountains is... a good thing?

Proposed translations

+3
8 mins
Selected

All too often

I'm post this as an answer just in case.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 мин (2012-04-30 20:30:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

With a zeal/tenacity worthy of a better cause,...


Ever since then the vandalism has been pursued with a zeal worthy of a better cause. One trembles to think what these regions will be like in fifty years;...
www.authorama.com/old-calabria-28.html


And there are bandits that pursue with tenacity worthy of a better cause any occasion to be handed gifts by the state...
bignewsmagazine.com/page/17524/
Peer comment(s):
agree Rachel Douglas : With your Discussion: "with admirable consistency." Whether the author thinks it's good or bad, it works. Maybe "impressive." "With impressive consistency, people plunge into the fountain themselves, rather than merely tossing coins for good luck."
1 hr
Thanks, Rachael! Or how about "More often than one could hope for..."
agree Svetlana Potton : I like Rachel's versions as well.
10 hrs
neutral Michael Korovkin : all too often = с досадным постоянством//neutral t'ain't: "too" denotes excess and is a strong value judgement expressing a preference for something to occur less frequently.Objectively, "all too often" and "enviably constant" are in fact antonyms.
10 hrs
I believe it's neutral
agree Michael Moskowitz : Sounds good
18 hrs
neutral Leonid K.U. : lacks expressiveness, imho
1 day 14 hrs
How about the other three or four options I've offered?
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Got your and Rachel's "impressive consistency". Thanks!"
12 hrs

Instead of throwing ... .... people are amazingly prone/apt to plunge there themselves

I rephrased because, in my view and in this context, “с завидным постоянством“ sounds rather silly, not to say outright irritating: prey tell, why the constancy of jumping into fountains should be enviable at all?

I understand that my version deviates (edits!) a bit. Therefore, its acceptability would depend on the amount of poetic license you may have for this particular work.
Note from asker:
Michael, thanks for your variant. As always I like your style, but that's too much for my text =)
Something went wrong...
1 day 15 hrs

with reprehensible persistency (*here)

:: with reprehensible persistency ::
(есть такая фраза в цивильном английском)

...поскольку ничего завидного в таком постоянстве нет, скоре наоборот, а уж в свинстве людей и подавно, - то может рассмотреть вариант "откорректированный" по смыслу, но с сохранением некоторой иронии и легкости текста?

With reprihensible persistency (and vigour) people hurl themlseves into fountains instead of just throwing (some) coins for good luck.
Something went wrong...
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