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наибольшая за год повторяемость ветра
оливье и мандаринов

Glossary entry

Russian term or phrase:

сменщик

English translation:

In the case of the U.S. Senate: interim successor; other cases: replacement, etc.

Added to glossary by Rachel Douglas
Nov 19, 2010 13:14
13 yrs ago
Russian term

сменщик

Russian to English Social Sciences Government / Politics newspaper article
It's an article about the just gone Novemeber in elections in the US. The article is explaning how the US system of government operates. However there is one sentence which I can't make sense:

В нынешнем составе сената 4 таких назначенца, в том числе и временный сменщик Барака Обамы, ставшего президентом страны

I think the sentence is trying to say that:

In the current Senate, four of such appointees, included the temporary worker Barack Obama, who became president

but that doesn't make sense in context to the whole paragraph?
The whole paragraph is:
Закон допускает назначение, а не избрание сенаторов взамен выбывших. В нынешнем составе сената 4 таких назначенца, в том числе и временный сменщик Барака Обамы, ставшего президентом страны. Поэтому на выборах 2 ноября будут оспариваться 37 сенатских мандатов. В целом же состав сената каждые два года обновляется на треть.

So I was wondering whether there is an alternative translation for сменщик, other than relief worker?
Proposed translations (English)
4 +8 (interim) successor
4 +1 temporary replacement for Obama
4 Placeholder
4 stand-in / replacement
4 rotational member (of the team .... gvt. etc.9
3 temporary stand-by for Obama
Change log

Nov 24, 2010 10:55: Rachel Douglas Created KOG entry

Discussion

Rachel Douglas Nov 20, 2010:
lesser, weak and unimportant monsters Definitely a novel and thought-provoking description of the U.S. Senate! ... Still, "placeholders" immediately makes you think that they were less than full-fledged Senators, which isn't true. A couple of these people, the interim replacements or successors of Biden and Salazar, in addition to Burris, have been in the Senate for nearly two years - attending, introducing legislation, voting, etc. The only guy to whom "placeholder" could conceivably apply, I think, would be the guy who was one of my Senators till this week: Carte Goodwin of West Virginia. Sen. Robert Byrd died in July. Governor Joe Manchin did not appoint himself to the office he intended to seek; he appointed his own legal assistant, Goodwin, to the job. Then Manchin won the seat in the election. Now _that_ was a placeholder or temporary replacement.
Kiwiland Bear Nov 19, 2010:
Placeholder I see what you mean with your comment Rachel, but I recently came across a computer game (of American origin, using AE as far as I can tell) where players need to kill lesser, weak and unimportant monsters to get the real one to spawn. Those early, substitute ones were called placeholders.

Interestingly, they were not there to temporarily replace the main one while it was away so to speak. (Your meaning). Depending on the way you kill, distract or otherwise get rid of them, different kinds of master monsters would appear - or none at all.

Looked to me to match this case well enough (apart from the "none at all" part of it :-)
Rachel Douglas Nov 19, 2010:
Succeeds another in an office That's precisely what Roland Burris did. He was appointed by the governor of Illinois to succeed Obama when the latter was elected President and therefore stepped down as Senator. I don't see looking for subtle nuances in a technical explanation of the election. Translating "назначенец", the fact that these four were "appointees", rather than elected Senators, will already have been stated. After that, it merely specifies that one of these guys was named to Obama's seat (of course, there was a whole corruption trial associated with that, but that's another story). And, while I rather like the "replacement for a broken dish" analogy, in principle, and I'm not totally against "interim replacement" (but complete against "temporary replacement"), still I think the sense is pretty straightforward: the guy was named to succeed Obama for an interim period.
Oleksiy Markunin Nov 19, 2010:
Rachel, I hear you. My remark is only about "successor" vs "replacement". I do agree that "interim" sounds better.

However, "replacement" - a person or thing that replaces another: summer replacements for vacationing staff; a replacement for a broken dish.
"successor" - a person who succeeds another in an office, position, or the like.

So, "сменщик" is the person who "сменяет", that's the main idea. Moreover, it seems to me that this word here has a slightly negative connotation, look at the other one "назначенец". And "successor" doesn't convey this subtle meaning.

Anyway, that's how I see it =)
Rachel Douglas Nov 19, 2010:
Yeah, but... If you say "interim," it makes clear that it's only until the next election for the post in question. The problem with "replacement" or "substitute," and especially with "temporary," is that it makes it sound as if he himself is coming back to be Senator again. (Maybe he'd do less damage there, but... oops! - no room for political discussions here.) "Interim replacement" would be better than "temporary replacement," but in combination with "Obama's," that could also sound like his appointment of somebody or other to some other post.
Oleksiy Markunin Nov 19, 2010:
Maybe it's only me..but I think there is quite a difference "сменщик" vs "преемник".

Proposed translations

+8
30 mins
Selected

(interim) successor

"Obama's interim successor"


Peer comment(s):
agree Mikhail Kropotov : That's the term I was looking for. Or two, to be exact :)
5 mins
Thanks, Mikhail.
agree Jack Doughty
50 mins
Thanks, Jack.
agree bububu
1 hr
Thank you.
agree LanaUK
2 hrs
Thanks, Lana.
agree seadeer (X)
5 hrs
Thanks, Anna.
agree James McVay
12 hrs
Thanks, James.
agree cyhul
13 hrs
Thank you.
agree Judith Hehir
1 day 2 hrs
Thanks, Judith.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks, this was very helpful!"
+1
2 mins

temporary replacement for Obama

Look at the grammar
временный сменщик БаракА ОбамЫ
NOT:
временный сменщик Барак_ ОбамА
Peer comment(s):
agree Oleksiy Markunin : exactly =)
11 mins
Alas, this is only exact in terms of Russian Grammar! Rachel's rendition is superior on all counts. Still, I thank you for your support!
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

Placeholder

Adorned with any of: interim/temporary/... or on its own.

I picked it from a slightly different field (gaming) but then, one can talk of "political games" too. It has an added benefit of conveying a mix of disdain and dismissal toward the subject which matches the original well (I think).
Peer comment(s):
neutral Rachel Douglas : To my AE ear, "placeholder" makes it sound like you expect the person who's place is being held to return to that place after some interval of time. This is not the case in the given context.
2 hrs
neutral Mikhail Kropotov : Don't expect much of video games. Oftentimes they're translated by the likes of me ;)
10 hrs
Hey, it wasn't translated, it was original - made in USA :-)
Something went wrong...
6 hrs

stand-in / replacement

Сменщик Ким Чен Ира переплюнул своего босса - Kim Jong-il’s stand-in outdoes master

Аналитики и официальные лица считают, что сменщик Лужкова будет более лояльным.
http://www.inosmi.ru/politic/20101004/163358453.html

Analysts and officials expect Mr. Luzhkov's replacement to be more loyal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870402930457552...
Reference:

http://www.inopressa.ru/article/11Jan2009/times/chan.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5489149.ece

Peer comment(s):
neutral Rachel Douglas : Replacement yes (but - an interim one, since it's only till the new election); stand-in absolutely not. This is not a temporary replacement of somebody who's coming back.
42 mins
Something went wrong...
8 hrs

rotational member (of the team .... gvt. etc.9

I ´d suggest

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 Stunden (2010-11-19 21:42:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

8 May 2010 ... New government in Jharkhand will be on rotational basis: Shibu Soren ... Obama's visit will have tangible results in fairly anodyne areas: ...
www.dnaindia.com/.../report_new-government-in-jharkhand-wil... rotational-basis-shibu-soren_1380662
Something went wrong...
1 day 1 hr

temporary stand-by for Obama

This one is just a possible, to my mind, version.
Something went wrong...
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