Dec 31, 2006 18:05
17 yrs ago
Russian term
United Kingdom
Legal / Business / Government
Native in: English
Works in: Romanian to English, Russian to English, French to English
устроить 37-й год
Russian to English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I'm sure this will be easy for you but it's a mystery to me. I've come across it in a text about two men who are arrested and held in custody in a region where hostilities are taking place. While they are being held, an officer says to them:
"Молитесь Богу, что мы город не взяли! Если мы город возьмем, мы вам устроим 37-ый год."
In the next paragraph the subject changes completely, so there are no further clues that I can see. What is the significance of this "37th year"? I've Googled the phrase "устроить 37 год" and have found a few other examples, but they don't make the meaning any clearer to me. Is it some kind of idiom or historical/literary reference?
Кстати, с наступающим!
"Молитесь Богу, что мы город не взяли! Если мы город возьмем, мы вам устроим 37-ый год."
In the next paragraph the subject changes completely, so there are no further clues that I can see. What is the significance of this "37th year"? I've Googled the phrase "устроить 37 год" and have found a few other examples, but they don't make the meaning any clearer to me. Is it some kind of idiom or historical/literary reference?
Кстати, с наступающим!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +10 | make it year 1937 for you |
Yuri Smirnov
|
| 4 +7 | referring to mass repressions of the 1930s |
Mikhail Kropotov
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Change log
Dec 31, 2006 22:07: Natalie changed "Term asked" from "устроить 37-ый год" to "устроить 37-й год"
Proposed translations
+10
3 mins
Yuri Smirnov
Native in Russian
Works in field
Daily Translation since 1992
Native in: Belarusian 
, Russian
Works in: English to Belarusian, English to Russian, French to Russian, and 10 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
71
Russian term (edited):
устроить 37-ый год
Selected
make it year 1937 for you
1937 was a year of unprecented and unmotivated terror in USSR.
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Note added at 4 mins (2006-12-31 18:10:01 GMT)
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Thus, the guy promises there'll be no law, no mercy, no justice — just death for all and everyone.
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Note added at 4 mins (2006-12-31 18:10:01 GMT)
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Thus, the guy promises there'll be no law, no mercy, no justice — just death for all and everyone.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Michael Moskowitz
: just skip "year"
1 min
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Thank you
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| agree |
Sara Noss
: "the 1937 treatment". A miserable threat! Anyway, Happy New Year!
15 mins
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Спасибо. Вам того же!
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| agree |
Roman Bardachev
: for sure, for sure..., esp. w/babayaga
1 hr
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Спасибо
|
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| agree |
GaryG
: I'd phrase it somewhat like "make it another 1937"
1 hr
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Thanks.
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| agree |
Сергей Лузан
1 hr
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Мерси, камарадо!
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| agree |
Anastasia Novoselova
: a very good explanation
2 hrs
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Thank you. A very good explanation of a very bad thing :-(
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| agree |
Sergei Tumanov
6 hrs
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Спасибо
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| agree |
Sergei Nikolenko
: Good rendering. Just add footnote in your translation, Peter, to explain the meaning.
13 hrs
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Спасибо.
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| agree |
diana bb
: ... and with GaryG
23 hrs
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Labai ačiu.
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| agree |
Erzsébet Czopyk
: make it another 1937/ as in Hungarian make it another 1956
2 days 2 hrs
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Beleegyezem. Köszönöm.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Many thanks to you both for your prompt help. I took a bit of a liberty and put "it's gonna be like 1937 all over again for you" and added a note. Всех с Новым Годом!"
+7
5 mins
Mikhail Kropotov
Germany
Germany
Native in Russian
Works in field
Germany
US-educated, precise & thorough
Native in: Russian
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English, Russian
Related KudoZ points
:
488
Russian term (edited):
устроить 37-ый год
referring to mass repressions of the 1930s
which were particularly severe in 1937.
people were actually *persecuted*, not prosecuted, for crimes against motherland and the communist party
this included torture at the hands of the KGB
millions were sent to Siberia to work as slaves and eventually die
people were actually *persecuted*, not prosecuted, for crimes against motherland and the communist party
this included torture at the hands of the KGB
millions were sent to Siberia to work as slaves and eventually die
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jack Doughty
1 min
|
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Thank you, Jack! Happy New Year!
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| agree |
Olga Sharpe
6 mins
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Thank you, Olga! Happy New Year!
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| agree |
Sara Noss
: Same to you! ;)
14 mins
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Thank you, Sarah! Happy New Year!
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| agree |
Henry Schroeder
: Would have been a mystery to me, too, but it makes sense. Happy New Year, Mikhail, thanks for all your help with my own questions!
23 mins
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Thank you, Henry! Happy New Year!
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| agree |
Vitaly Kisin
: of course; except that 1937 was the year when top party brass went under the axe, and so Khrushchev and the top party brass branded this year as the worst when denouncing Stalinism in post-Stalin years
49 mins
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| agree |
Simon Gregory
: It is good that soon this vernacular soon will be lost
5 hrs
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| agree |
Larissa Boutrimova
: Happy New Year, Mikhail :)
9 hrs
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Discussion