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Glossary entry

Russian term or phrase:

враскорячку

English translation:

half in and half out

Added to glossary by Lina Episheva
    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2009-07-07 19:54:08 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Jul 3, 2009 19:48
14 yrs ago
Russian term

враскорячку

Russian to English Other Folklore
ex стоять враскорячку
Proposed translations (English)
3 +2 half in and half out
4 +2 splayed apart
4 +1 standing, limbs akimbo
5 squatting with legs spread wide
5 with legs spread out
4 standing bow-legged
4 with one's feet (awkwardly) apart
4 spread-eagle
Change log

Jul 18, 2009 17:14: Lina Episheva changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/0">'s</a> old entry - "враскорячку"" to ""half in and half out""

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Alexandra Taggart

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Discussion

Alexandra Taggart Jul 6, 2009:
Absolutely. Moreover: incapable to hold it's position in attempt to do so(as this posture is awkward and very uncomfortable). Comparing Russia to a man (like in some cartoon drawings) which stands враскорячку one foot in socialism and another - in the nearest future.
Judith Hehir Jul 6, 2009:
Still thinking about this one: Russia is incapable of (taking)such a wide stance.
Alexandra Taggart Jul 5, 2009:
in the joke,sorry,which was told by Alexandra "to sprawl between socialism and communism", I guess, should work well, it would mean "niether here,nor there"and that is right:"no one step closer to promised heaven by Lenin ".The last site I've entered was a gardening site, the gardener was standing "враскорячку"on his planting spot in order to avoid squashing other plants.In a part of some text above, as always, the context does matter.
Judith Hehir Jul 4, 2009:
How about legs sprawled (in different directions)?
Alexandra Taggart Jul 4, 2009:
"one leg in the grave"-враскорячку that is from these series as well! It was a joke norrated by Alexandra that came first to my mind.I find it a really funny sounding word in Russian, seems it's impossible to pronounce it with too serious voice.The word "враскорячку", as Judith has nicely named it "folklorish"-belongs to funny stories, jokes and humorous words of ballards.That what is about"his legs straddle two steps"in my opinion sounds too modern, however correct in meaning,somewhere from aerobics "Step Reebok".
Judith Hehir Jul 4, 2009:
There is the notion of "straddling" the past and the future or "straddling" socialism and communism, but this verb conveys neither the color nor the folklorish flavor of враскорячку.
Alexandra Goldburt Jul 4, 2009:
Это мне напоминает... ...фразу из очень старого анекдота:

На собрании в колхозе партийный деятель вещает: "Мы стоим одной ногой в социализме, а другой в коммунизме". Поднимается очень старый колхозник и спрашивает: "И долго мы так враскорячку стоять-то будем?"
Alexandra Taggart Jul 4, 2009:
"We have not got use to be told" "we are not used to be told how to stand, where to step or when we should stop dancing"-that is how I read Putin's- "Мы враскорячку стоять не умеем".The above sentence seems to be a reply(imaginary reply):"No,darling,you will "корячиться" and "ЭХ" there would be "alas".
Alexandra Taggart Jul 4, 2009:
"limbs akimbo" For my ear-reminds me spread eagled body and that means "defenceless"."Враскорячку"-besides that it expresses physical posture it has an additional meaning of "an awkward posture of indecisiveness (a difficulty to find a comfortable posiion)".The word construction is similar to "вприсядку"(Russian dance,you can say jokingly "танцевать враскорячку")which does present this expression with a sense of humour.Say, if you ask the person"Please,dance Russian dance!" and then "Freeze!"-his posture would be "враскорячку"that which is supposed to be amazing looks funny and feels very awkward.
Rachel Douglas Jul 4, 2009:
Dead horse, cont'd An anonymous Wikipedia author, who may be a professional lexicographer (but I doubt it) or may just be somebody exposed to the rock band "Legs Akimbo," doesn't count as an authority, in my book. I do know that "akimbo" was occasionally used with "legs" before the 1980s, but still meaning "bent." Otherwise, I was merely reporting my own experience as a fairly widely read native speaker of AE. For me, "akimbo" means "bent and sticking out," not "splayed" or "every which way." If I heard somebody restate "one foot here, one foot there" as "limbs akimbo," my thought would be that the speaker hadn't understood what the first phrase means. Somebody with a different experience of regional or generational variations in meaning, like the Wikipedia author, might get it, but I wouldn't.
Judith Hehir Jul 4, 2009:
I don't want to flog a dead horse here, but I think this bears repeating.
Wikipedia comment on recent usage is helpful: "Until recent times (the 1980s or thereabouts), the term was almost exclusively arms akimbo, with little involvement of the legs; it seems that it was first creatively used to describe sitting cross-legged. More recently, the term has been adapted still further, giving a second sense of limbs being splayed out rather than merely bent."

Example sentence(s):

* "There he remained, dead to the world, limbs akimbo, until we left" (Alex Shoumatoff).
Rachel Douglas Jul 4, 2009:
Usage 2Judith. For me, the problem with "akimbo" is that it doesn't mean anything like what VVP said, as he reformulated Obama's remark about one foot in the past and one going forward. To my ear, akimbo means what it's always meant: bent and sticking out. And almost always applied to arms, though my 1964 edition of Webster's gives also, as an example of a limb being bent, "a tailor sitting with this legs akimbo".
Judith Hehir Jul 4, 2009:
That's why I think limbs/legs akimbo would work well. It is colorful. Its sound and etymology are both suggestive of something folklorish or folksy, and it brings up a clear image (nowadays) of legs splayed out. It makes a nice contrast to the idea that follows, i.e., feet firmly planted with a gaze fixed on the future.
Rachel Douglas Jul 4, 2009:
Saying it in English We don't know for certain that Putin's remark is what we should be discussing here, since he said "Мы враскорячку стоять не умеем", while the asker asked about "эх стоять враскорячку". But, IF this is the context, then I think the key to a good translation will be to express IN IDIOMATIC ENGLISH what Putin was conveying, both in content and color. From what I see in the wires, Russian news agencies didn't too this very well, with Interfax's "bow-legged", or "so awkwardly with our legs apart" (that latter one's better on meaning, but has no color). If you know how VVP often talks, and have a sense of the color, and humor when applied to the placement of one's feet, in this expression, then you'll look for an English word or expression that conveys something like it. How would VVP say this, if he were a native speaker of English? How would the ever-colorful Lyndon Baines Johnson have said it (albeit in "Texan", not necessarily standard AE)? Taking that approach will quickly rule out a number of awkward formulations, or ones which have other meanings and connotations.
Alexandra Taggart Jul 4, 2009:
Has Putin pronounced this word "враскорячку"? He would never. Cunning Putin knows that his words would be translated.Please, look at "ex стоять враскорячку" more closely.This "ех" (ye-h-h!) is a vocal pronoun in Russian Gypsy song ( and dance)or some folklore bit.This "ex" sends it comical, there is a mockery at the person this expression was adressed.
Ellen Kraus Jul 4, 2009:
Replying to the US leader's suggestion that he, Mr Putin, had one foot in the past, he said: "We [Russians] don't stand bowlegged. We stand solidly on our ...
gutbuster Jul 4, 2009:
Putin responded Friday in characteristically colorful language.

"We don't know how to stand so awkwardly with our legs apart," he said in televised remarks. "We stand solidly on our own two feet and always look into the future."
gutbuster Jul 4, 2009:
"Putin responded Friday by saying Russians don't know how to stand so awkwardly with their legs apart, state news agencies reported. Instead, Putin said they "stand solidly on their own two feet and always look into the future."(С)
Dmitrie Highduke Jul 3, 2009:
Mr. Putin?

Proposed translations

+2
25 mins
Selected

half in and half out

I think it has a figurative meaning rather than literary.

Вот ссылка: http://alliruk.livejournal.com/55892.html?thread=71252
И я, безусловно, согласен с тем, что Россия должна быть интегрирована в мировое сообщество, а не стоять враскорячку (half in and half out):
To reach its full potential, though, Russia needs to be fully integrated into the international political and economic order. But Russia is in the precarious position today of being half in and half out


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Note added at 30 mins (2009-07-03 20:18:27 GMT)
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В принципе, это зависит от контекста :)
Peer comment(s):
agree Alexandra Goldburt : Конечно, это зависит от контекста, но врядли тут нужет буквальный перевод.
1 day 39 mins
Спасибо!
agree elizbarashvi (X)
2 days 16 mins
Thank you!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
14 mins

standing bow-legged

3 июл 2009 ... Мы в раскорячку стоять не умеем, мы твердо стоим на ногах и всегда смотрим в будущее, заявил премьер-министр РФ Владимир Путин, ...
www.vz.ru/news/2009/7/3/303787.html - vor 5 Stunden gefunden
Peer comment(s):
neutral The Misha : You cannot STAND bow-legged. You can BE bow-legged - but that's forever.
4 hrs
if the Russians, according to Putin, cannot stand bow-legged, other people perhaps can.
Something went wrong...
+1
30 mins

standing, limbs akimbo

Wikipedia comment on recent usage is helpful: "Until recent times (the 1980s or thereabouts), the term was almost exclusively arms akimbo, with little involvement of the legs; it seems that it was first creatively used to describe sitting cross-legged. More recently, the term has been adapted still further, giving a second sense of limbs being splayed out rather than merely bent."
Example sentence:

"There he remained, dead to the world, limbs akimbo, until we left" (Alex Shoumatoff).

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akimbo

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/akimbo

Peer comment(s):
agree crainny
2 mins
Thank you.
Something went wrong...
38 mins

squatting with legs spread wide

Peer comment(s):
neutral Rachel Douglas : Careful with that link (which is a good illustration of the problem I noted under Elena S's post, by the way). At least according to my Norton Anti-Virus filter, the page attempted to install a virus.
17 hrs
Thanks a lot.I have Antivirus clockwise, however, it was said that not all your typings with Cyrrilic names your firewall necessarily will bounce off,many people are aware. .
Something went wrong...
+2
1 hr

splayed apart

If the context is Putin's rebuff today to Obama's charge that he has one foot in the past, then I would go with legs, not limbs, and with the expression "splayed apart" or "splayed out", which captures the awkwardness of having your two feet in two different directions (while "akimbo", etc., pretty much just means "bent" - and has meant that for a long time, both for arms and for legs; e.g., my paper 1964 Webster's has "legs akimbo" for a tailor sitting cross-legged). But this context, if this is your context, definitely has to do with standing.

"мы враскорячку не умеем стоять. Мы твердо стоим на ногах и всегда смотрим в будущее".

"We don't know how to stand with our legs splayed apart; we stand firmly on our feet and are always looking to the future."
Peer comment(s):
agree Andrey Belousov (X)
43 mins
Thanks, Andrey.
agree boostrer
6 hrs
Thank you.
Something went wrong...
8 hrs

with legs spread out

One may stand or sit враскорячку / with legs spread out, quite a clumsy pose indeed. Some context would help, especially if it is not used literary.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2009-07-04 04:08:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Not "literary" - literally, of course! My apology!
Note from asker:
sorry that i didn't mention that. it's not about sex. but you are right in this case it would be much different
Peer comment(s):
neutral Rachel Douglas : Ummmm... Just a slight caveat, here: I think this would be a really problematic choice, because this expression is so often used to describe participation in the sex act... on the part of the female.
9 hrs
That is why, Rachel, I mentioned that the context would help. This term taken out of the context in Russian sounds sexual too. After reading the posts with references to Mr. Putin's remark it just makes it funnier, he loves this kind of folklore...
Something went wrong...
8 mins

with one's feet (awkwardly) apart

Lingvo:

враскоряку ; = враскорячку
with one's feet (awkwardly) apart


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 23 hrs (2009-07-04 19:43:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This is why it's important to give context when asking a question.
Note from asker:
I don' t think this will express the meaning. it's nt about your legs staying apart but the way you feel.
Something went wrong...
1 day 4 hrs

spread-eagle

... Mr Putin will straighten them all up, thass fer sure! Otherwise he'll wet them right in the cans.
Something went wrong...
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