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объясни толком
в глазах загорался хищный огонек

Glossary entry

Russian term or phrase:

с чего это вдруг?

English translation:

how come?

Added to glossary by Wendy Cummings
Jun 5, 2005 11:43
18 yrs ago
Russian term

с чего это вдруг?

Russian to English Art/Literary General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Said in the middle of a conversation (in a fairytale). The speaker has just been told that the Tsar is suffering from hypochondria, and she says

С чего это вдруг? - Удивилась Я.

I just can't get my head round it today. Can anyone help on a Sunday afternoon?!!

Thanks
Proposed translations (English)
4 how come?
5 +3 why on earth?
4 +2 Why this all at once?
3 +2 you don't say

Discussion

Non-ProZ.com Jun 5, 2005:
Again, from my impression of the character (which obviously you don't have), i think she would be saying it sarcastically. I shall have to get back to the author and check the situation, as i don't think it can be resolved otherwise. Thanks for everyone's comments.
JoeYeckley (X) Jun 5, 2005:
"You don't say" can be said sarcastically. However, that is a matter of tone. It can also be said with enthusiasm, distraction, or any number of other tones. The expression is actually sort of like verbal calamari (tastes like whatever you cook it in).
Non-ProZ.com Jun 5, 2005:
"You don't say" I have read these further comments with interest. For me, when someone says 'you don't say', its because they already know the fact, and they are being sarcastic, meaning 'that's obvious'. However, from the section of text that I have, there is no indication that the speaker already knew the fact. This is why I am reluctant to go for this option. It may need further checking with the author though, as there is some text that comes before the section that I am translating, and that may hold the key.
Kirill Semenov Jun 5, 2005:
Wrong choice, sorry. It may be in line with your impression of the character, but it's different from what the character said...

Proposed translations

4 mins
Russian term (edited): � ���� ��� �����?
Selected

how come?

.

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Note added at 8 mins (2005-06-05 11:52:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

\"How comes it then that he is prince of devils?\" (Marlowe, Doctor Faustus); \"How comes it that they travel?\" (Shakespeare, Hamlet); \"How comes it thus?\" (Milton, Paradise Lost); \"How comes any particular thing to be of this or that sort?\" (John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding); \"How comes it to be any concern of yours?\" (Fielding, Tom Jones); \"How comes this about; there must be some mistake\" (Jane Austen, Mansfield Park); \"How comes it that we whalemen of America now outnumber all the rest of the banded whalemen in the world?\" (Melville, Moby-Dick); and \"Then if it\'s so precious how comes it to be cheap?\" (Henry James, The Golden Bowl).
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970501


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2005-06-05 11:54:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

from the same source:

These still-somewhat-obscure phrases depend on a usually archaic sense of come meaning \'to come about; happen; occur; become\', combined with an archaic word order placing \"how\" and \"come\" together at the beginning of a sentence.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 mins (2005-06-05 11:59:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

it\'s a small world :-) i am in sw11 :-)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Kirill Semenov : totally another meaning, methinks. "How come" -- как могло случится?
4 hrs
'totally another meaning' is tok pisin, kirillushka :-) also - пишем - как могло случитЬся
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I went with 'how come' as its more in line with the character of the speaker, and what i think she'd say. Thanks to Jack also for suggesting it, but i could only choose one answer! (and small world indeed, nice to know there's other translators out there in SW London!!)"
+2
3 mins
Russian term (edited): � ���� ��� �����?

Why this all at once?

Or:
Why should this happen all of a sudden?
Peer comment(s):
neutral Yuri Smirnov : Вдруг doesn't mean anything, but emphasis here.
3 mins
agree koundelev : I like ypur version. Could you mske it a bit shorter by just omitting a couple of not so much necessary words?
5 mins
Thanks. Could say simply "Why this?" or "How so?" or (a more modern colloquialism) "How come?"
agree Aleksandr Okunev (X) : vdrug is the main emphasis here, Yuri, just imagine you get a letter from local IRS tomorrow, what will you say when you've read the sender's address? 8) --- all of a sudden is just fine IMHO
49 mins
Thank you. That's how I saw it too.
Something went wrong...
+3
5 mins
Russian term (edited): ñ ÷åãî ýòî âäðóã?

why on earth?

Вдруг here doesn't mean suddenly at all. It's just an emphatic word.
Peer comment(s):
agree Ines Burrell
28 mins
Спасибо
agree Alexander Delaver
47 mins
Спасибо
agree Olga V
3 days 7 hrs
Спасибо
Something went wrong...
+2
56 mins
Russian term (edited): � ���� ��� �����?

you don't say

Without knowing the character's overall style of speech better, I'd say that it could even be as semantically empty as this little conversational item.
Peer comment(s):
agree Yuri Smirnov : Absolutely! That's what I am 100% sure.
3 hrs
Thanks.
agree Kirill Semenov : yes!
3 hrs
Thanks.
neutral sergey (X) : and your point being ... ? с чего это вдруг вы так ололчились? Джо? I would translate - how come you are so up in arms over this, Joe? try to do it with 'you don't say' :-)
7 hrs
Me? Up in arms? You don't say... I think you're confusing me with someone else. :-)
Something went wrong...
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