Жизнь не мила

English translation: sick of life

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Russian term or phrase:Жизнь не мила
English translation:sick of life
Entered by: PaulinaK

09:13 Dec 8, 2010
Russian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Russian term or phrase: Жизнь не мила
"Мне в этот вечер жизнь была не мила...я сидела как каменная, слез не было, а только какая-то безнадежность."
PaulinaK
United States
Local time: 01:16
sick of life
Explanation:
.
Selected response from:

Kiwiland Bear
New Zealand
Local time: 21:16
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5That was a very hard night for me
Leigh Mosley
5life was misery (see below)
Andrei B
4no reason to live
Anton Shcheglov
4sick of life
Kiwiland Bear
4I was extremely vexed
Serge Vazhnenko
4It was so heavy on my heart...
LanaUK
4life feels/I feel really gloomy
rns
4Life was unkind (to me that night)
Judith Hehir
4life was miserable ...
cyhul
3life was not dear
Smantha
3... life was not pleasant...
Nikolai Muraviev
3Life was no bowl of cherries for me that evening...
Rachel Douglas


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
no reason to live


Explanation:
Одна из версий.

Example sentence(s):
  • I was suicidal because I felt I had no reason to live and when I asked my psychiatrists to explain my purpose in life, they had no answer, just told my mom I was too violent, too disturbed to live at home, I was dangerous.

    Reference: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/476.html
Anton Shcheglov
Zimbabwe
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 4
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
life was not dear


Explanation:

That night my life was not dear to me....


RPO -- John Greenleaf Whittier : Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl
I can truly say, on that occasion, at that time, my life was not dear to me, and that I was serious and ingenuous in my proposition: and as I was leaning ...
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/html/1807/.../poem2302.ht... - Cached - Similar

Smantha
Israel
Local time: 10:16
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in HebrewHebrew
PRO pts in category: 12
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49 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
sick of life


Explanation:
.

Kiwiland Bear
New Zealand
Local time: 21:16
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 32
Grading comment
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
... life was not pleasant...


Explanation:
.

Nikolai Muraviev
Russian Federation
Local time: 11:16
Native speaker of: Russian
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
I was extremely vexed


Explanation:
To tell you the truth, I found this translation for another old Russian saying, 'жизни не рад' (it is vey close in meaning, isn't it?) in Complete Russian-English Dictionary by A. Alexandrov (1904).


    Reference: http://www.archive.org/details/completeenglishr00alekuoft
Serge Vazhnenko
Ukraine
Local time: 10:16
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in UkrainianUkrainian
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
It was so heavy on my heart...


Explanation:
similar

LanaUK
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:16
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 4
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12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
life feels/I feel really gloomy


Explanation:
Мне в этот вечер жизнь была не мила — that night I felt really gloomy

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Note added at 3 hrs (2010-12-08 13:07:27 GMT)
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Also "doom and gloom", "gloom and doom"
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/doom-and-gloom.html



rns
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 36
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
That was a very hard night for me


Explanation:
meaning - an emotionally difficult period

Leigh Mosley
United States
Local time: 04:16
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
life was misery (see below)


Explanation:
The complete sentence:

"That evening my life was misery ... I was sitting stone dead, with no tears, feeling just hopeless."

misery = intense unhappiness, discomfort, or suffering
(various dictionaries)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 час (2010-12-08 14:45:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Idioms with "stone":
The widespread idiom "stone dead" (literally = unquestionably dead) is also used figuratively to describe a state of being absolutely motionless
Example:
They soon discover their pal Ned, sitting stone-dead from shock, holding the winning ticket
see
http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-99/01-09-99/b05a...

Variant:
"stone cold" instead of "stone dead"
Examples:
1. "The lasting image of school board members sitting stone cold silent in front of hundreds of parents..."
see
http://peicanada.com/second_opinion_paul_macneill_publisher/...
2. "After about an hour of sitting stone cold in my chair, I swear I heard her voice"
see
http://www.psychic-experiences.com/real-psychic-story.php?st...

Andrei B
Local time: 11:16
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 12
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Life was unkind (to me that night)


Explanation:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Life unkind&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8...

Judith Hehir
United States
Local time: 04:16
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 31
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17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
life was miserable ...


Explanation:
"That evening my life was miserable ... I was sitting like a rock, without tears, without any hope."



cyhul
India
Local time: 13:46
Native speaker of: Native in HindiHindi
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Life was no bowl of cherries for me that evening...


Explanation:
This is a departure from the simplicity of the original, but it might work, depending on the rest of the context.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day8 hrs (2010-12-09 17:17:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

For Lana (continued):
If you do a search in Google Books for "Life is not a bowl of cherries," there are hundreds of examples of this usage.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q="life is not a bowl of cherri...

One of the more somber ones goes like this:
"For Sarah, the word sacrifice holds dark and unhappy meanings. It reminds her of the unhappy experiences of her childhood. Life is 'not a bowl of cherries,' her parents told her as they constantly spoke about how immigration, hard times, and the Holocaust had affected their family and friends."

Rachel Douglas
United States
Local time: 04:16
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 84

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  LanaUK: I think, this expression sounds with a touch of irony and thus diminishes the person's grief,takes the depth of her sorrow,and thus doesn't render the meaning of the original.
22 hrs
  -> Thanks for commenting. "Life is not a bowl of cherries" is a cliche often used in grave circumstances. Somewhat like the title of the novel, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" on profound mental illness. As noted, "might work" dep. on context. See Note.
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