Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Russian term or phrase:
готов
English translation:
dead; a goner; stone dead; gone; \"toast\"
Added to glossary by
Susan Welsh
May 1, 2014 13:40
10 yrs ago
Russian term
United States
Psychology, economics, politics
Native in: English 
Works in: Russian to English, German to English, English
готов
Russian to English
Other
Slang
crime fiction
The police (Chambers and Brown) have shot and killed Greek, the bad guy. They go closer, to make sure he's dead:
Чамберс пинком ноги отшвырнул пистолет Грека в сторону, Браун пощупал пульс на шее Грека. И лишь сжал зубы.
- Готов.
So, does "Готов" mean he's dead (finished off), or something more like, "Well, that's the end of that," meaning that their job is over? Brown is annoyed with his deputy, Chambers, because he would have preferred to capture Greek alive.
Thanks!
Чамберс пинком ноги отшвырнул пистолет Грека в сторону, Браун пощупал пульс на шее Грека. И лишь сжал зубы.
- Готов.
So, does "Готов" mean he's dead (finished off), or something more like, "Well, that's the end of that," meaning that their job is over? Brown is annoyed with his deputy, Chambers, because he would have preferred to capture Greek alive.
Thanks!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +1 | He's a gonner |
Polina Rassolova-Karageuzian
|
| 4 +7 | Dead |
Alexey Suspitsyn
|
| 4 +1 | gone |
Michael Korovkin
|
| 4 | stone dead |
Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
|
| 4 | He's toast. |
Gary Russo
|
Proposed translations
+1
2 hrs
Polina Rassolova-Karageuzian
United States
United States
Native in Russian
United States
Localization QA, Translator, Interpreter
Native in: Russian
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English, Danish to Russian, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
He's a gonner
Just as a suggestion, but yeah, means dead.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2014-05-01 22:09:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
My point was to try and come up with a slang equivalent, instead of just using the plain and boring word "dead". I did check with a native (British) English speaker before posting on here.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 hrs (2014-05-02 11:25:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
It does look like it's more commonly spelled with two "n"s but it can mean "dead".
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/goner?sh...
goner
Definitions
noun
(slang) a person or thing beyond help or recovery, esp a person who is dead or about to die
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2014-05-01 22:09:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
My point was to try and come up with a slang equivalent, instead of just using the plain and boring word "dead". I did check with a native (British) English speaker before posting on here.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 hrs (2014-05-02 11:25:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
It does look like it's more commonly spelled with two "n"s but it can mean "dead".
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/goner?sh...
goner
Definitions
noun
(slang) a person or thing beyond help or recovery, esp a person who is dead or about to die
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
The Misha
: If you mean "goner," it spells with a single "n".
1 hr
|
|
Actually both spellings are acceptable http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gonner and http://www.multitran.ru/c/m.exe?l1=1&l2=2&s=gonner
|
|
| neutral |
Rachel Douglas
: But "to be a goner" means to be doomed to die, not already dead. Webster's: "One whose fate is sealed." And Misha's right that the traditionally correct spelling (in Mark Twain, for example) is "goner," regardless of what "Urban Dictionary" says.
4 hrs
|
|
Thank you for the information, I stand corrected. I did check with a native English speaker though.
Also:
goner
n
1. a person or thing beyond help or recovery, esp a person who is dead or about to die
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged
|
|
| agree |
David Knowles
: I agree that the preferred spelling is "goner", even though it looks odd to me
22 hrs
|
|
Thanks so much David. I wonder if it's more of a British thing? I speak British English.
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks to everybody. I think all the suggestions for non-literal translations are equally good, but I used this one. As for just plain "dead"--я виновата, because what I asked for was an explanation (does it mean this or that), and was happy to get it. But I'm glad others rose to the challenge of fine-tuning the translation to suit the slang expression of the original."
+7
5 mins
Alexey Suspitsyn
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Native in Russian
Russian Federation
EnRu: Financial, IT and Technical
Native in: Russian
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English
Dead
it means that the Greek is dead. As simple as it is.
Note from asker:
| Спасибо! |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Oleg Diaczenko
40 mins
|
|
спасибо
|
|
| agree |
Yulia Savelieva
46 mins
|
|
спасибо
|
|
| agree |
rtransr
1 hr
|
|
спасибо
|
|
| agree |
P.L.F. Persio
3 hrs
|
|
спасибо
|
|
| agree |
Oleksiy Markunin
3 hrs
|
|
спасибо
|
|
| agree |
svetlana cosquéric
4 hrs
|
|
спасибо
|
|
| agree |
Anna Shaughnessy (X)
6 hrs
|
|
спасибо
|
|
| agree |
LilianNekipelov
: Yes.
6 hrs
|
|
спасибо
|
|
| disagree |
Michael Korovkin
: yes it's as simple as that except for the fact that correct as it is semantically your translation is "dead-cold" metaphorically.If the author didn't need metaphor he could've written"мёртв",а не“готов“.So, you didn't really translate:you"explained"+I did
18 hrs
|
|
now, try to propose your own option and we'll see.
|
4 hrs
Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
On time, on target, on budget.
Native in: English 
, Polish
Works in: Polish to English, English to Polish, Russian to Polish, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
20
stone dead
After all, his pulse was measured, plus this is not a clinical diagnosis but a colloquial expression.
+1
19 hrs
Michael Korovkin
Italy
Italy
Native in Russian
&
English
Italy
Native in: English , Russian
Works in: Russian to English, English to Russian, Italian to Russian, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
28
gone
... the meaning (he is dead) is clear. But translate it as "dead" is like translating "nincompoop" as "mentally incompetent"/"умственно неполноценный" because it comes from ""non compos mentis". As I said, that's not a translation but an "explanation" of the term's meaning: not a thing to do in literary text. Like that, the text would be "dead" too.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Polina Rassolova-Karageuzian
: I suggested sth similar and got rubbished :)
2 hrs
|
|
Thanks, Polina. No, you didn't get rubbished: unfirtunately your "critics" are right: "he is a gonner" doesn't mean "he is dead" but he is about to be dead/gone.That's a big difference.That's why I made my entry.Otherwise I would've simply agreed w yours
|
1 day 2 hrs
Gary Russo
Canada
Canada
Native in English
Canada
Russian to English Translator
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: Russian to English
He's toast.
This is American slang. It can mean dead, as here, or being in a hopeless situation with no chance of recovery. The full phrase was "burnt toast", but these days people usually just say "toast", as in the example.
The Urban Dictionary for "toast" gives
"Destroyed, terminated, ceased functioning, ended abruptedly by external forces"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2014-05-02 17:42:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
The phrase "toast" should only be used when the time is 1970 or later. If this were a 1940s detective novel, "He's a goner" would be the most likely slang translation. (Incidentally, my inclination is also "gonner" with two n's.)
The Urban Dictionary for "toast" gives
"Destroyed, terminated, ceased functioning, ended abruptedly by external forces"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2014-05-02 17:42:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
The phrase "toast" should only be used when the time is 1970 or later. If this were a 1940s detective novel, "He's a goner" would be the most likely slang translation. (Incidentally, my inclination is also "gonner" with two n's.)
Example sentence:
"My car was toast after I hit that wall" (from The Urban Dictionary)
Down 6-0 with two minutes to play, they were toast. (my own example)
Reference comments
51 mins
Yulia Savelieva
Australia
Australia
Native in English
Australia
Stand with Ukraine!
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, Ukrainian to English, English to Russian, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Reference:
«Кто на новенького, или Песня о шпаге», Андрей Миронов
Шпаги звон, как звон бокала,
С детства мне ласкает слух.
Шпага многим показала,
Шпага многим показала,
Что такое прах и пух.
Припев:
Вжик, вжик, вжик — уноси готовенького,
Вжик, вжик, вжик — кто на новенького?
Кто на новенького?
Кто на новенького?
...
С детства мне ласкает слух.
Шпага многим показала,
Шпага многим показала,
Что такое прах и пух.
Припев:
Вжик, вжик, вжик — уноси готовенького,
Вжик, вжик, вжик — кто на новенького?
Кто на новенького?
Кто на новенького?
...
Reference:
Note from asker:
| Спасибо! Смешно. |
Peer comments on this reference comment:
| agree |
P.L.F. Persio
2 hrs
|
| agree |
The Misha
: А еще была вариация: "Уноси готовенького, неси новенького." Эх, молодость...
3 hrs
|
Discussion
1908 Daily Chron. 13 May 3/3 Unconscious imitations of Browning and others of the great and the gone. 1914 Hardy Satires of Circumstance 52 The speakers, sundry phantoms of the gone.
Hence "goner slang, one who is dead or undone; something which is doomed or ended.
1850 ‘Dow, Jr.’ in Sunday Mercury (N.Y.) 6 Jan. 2/6 Last Monday+the old year was not quite a goner. 1854 M. J. Holmes Tempest & Sunshine v. 211 I'd soon give you up as a goner. 1857 Thoreau Maine W. (1894) 365 He exclaimed, ‘She is a goner!’+There, to be sure, she lay perfectly dead. 1891 N. Gould Double Event 261 Make a noise, or follow me, and you're a goner. 1930 ‘E. Bramah’ Little Flutter xiii. 153 If it failed he was—if one may be permitted the word in the excitement of the moment—a ‘goner’. 1933 Boys' Mag. XLVII. 124/2 When I found the car burnt out I thought you were a ‘goner’. 1945 Auden For Time Being 12 Rome will be a goner.