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яичко в яичке!

English translation: зд. apple in the eye

07:00 Oct 16, 2019
Russian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Russian term or phrase: яичко в яичке!
From a Gulag memoir:

Теперь все жили в лагере, да ещё в зоне для 58-й ****(яичко в яичке!)***, и на работу выводились под конвоем.

I've never come across this expression before. My current guess is that it means that they were packed in tight, like in a can of sardines.
tatyana000
Local time: 20:56
English translation:зд. apple in the eye
Explanation:
it's not a fixed Russian term of phrase, rather a joke invented by this particular author.
she describes how they had to live in more strictly supervised, isolated barracks in that penitentiary facility.
do you remember such descriptions of most highly secured places from the Russian fairy tales?
"нелегко с Кощеем сладить: смерть его на конце иглы, та игла в яйце, то яйцо в утке, та утка в зайце, тот заяц в сундуке, а сундук стоит на высоком дубу, и то дерево Кощей как свой глаз бережёт".

same here — I think the author describes something similar to "apple in the eye", it has nothing to do with being tightly packed

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Note added at 14 hrs (2019-10-16 21:44:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

>>Do you think it could mean that the zone for political prisoners was simply nested into the larger camp?>> — Yes exactly I think this is what she describes here (Закончилось вольготное время, когда все они могли ходить свободно по всему поселку и в лагерь приходили только ночевать, и теперь все жили в лагере, причем в зоне для заключенных по 58-й статье, и везде ходили под конвоем, с серьезной охраной)

>>Also, I'm not familiar with the expression "apple in the eye".>>
True, like there is no expression "яичко в яичке"
Selected response from:

Olga Sinitsyna
Russian Federation
Local time: 21:56
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2зд. apple in the eye
Olga Sinitsyna
3 +2cheek to jowl
mrrafe


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
cheek to jowl


Explanation:
I think this would be the closest Americanism, like pigs tightly packed into a pen.

Literally a closer Americanism would be "balls to the wall," but it's crude and it's more about extreme effort or speed rather than extreme crowding.

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/balls to the wall

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Note added at 1 hr (2019-10-16 08:12:03 GMT)
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This source uses cheek BY jowl but that sounds less familiar to me. https://grammarist.com/usage/cheek-by-jowl/

mrrafe
United States
Local time: 14:56
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  David Knowles: I was going to say that "cheek BY jowl" is more familiar to me :-)
1 hr
agree  Katya Kesten
3 days 9 hrs
neutral  danya: the source does not tell us they were tightly packed - rather, watched more closely
13 days
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12 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
зд. apple in the eye


Explanation:
it's not a fixed Russian term of phrase, rather a joke invented by this particular author.
she describes how they had to live in more strictly supervised, isolated barracks in that penitentiary facility.
do you remember such descriptions of most highly secured places from the Russian fairy tales?
"нелегко с Кощеем сладить: смерть его на конце иглы, та игла в яйце, то яйцо в утке, та утка в зайце, тот заяц в сундуке, а сундук стоит на высоком дубу, и то дерево Кощей как свой глаз бережёт".

same here — I think the author describes something similar to "apple in the eye", it has nothing to do with being tightly packed

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 hrs (2019-10-16 21:44:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

>>Do you think it could mean that the zone for political prisoners was simply nested into the larger camp?>> — Yes exactly I think this is what she describes here (Закончилось вольготное время, когда все они могли ходить свободно по всему поселку и в лагерь приходили только ночевать, и теперь все жили в лагере, причем в зоне для заключенных по 58-й статье, и везде ходили под конвоем, с серьезной охраной)

>>Also, I'm not familiar with the expression "apple in the eye".>>
True, like there is no expression "яичко в яичке"

Olga Sinitsyna
Russian Federation
Local time: 21:56
Works in field
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Vert interesting... I didn't think of this connection. Do you think it could mean that the zone for political prisoners was simply nested into the larger camp? Also, I'm not familiar with the expression "apple in the eye".


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  danya: not sure about the suggested rendition, but I am def with the explanatory part
12 days
  -> Thank you Danya!
agree  Oleg Lozinskiy
13 days
  -> Thank you Oleg!
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