Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Russian + English = Rusglish

I painted while some men stood behind me, speaking Russian so fast I couldn't even catch a single word. They watched me for twenty minutes, while I became more and more self conscious. My vicious imagination translated the convo in the meanest of ways:

Tall Russian Man: "Can you believe they paid for this garbage to be painted on the wall?"

Short Russian Man: "I can't believe they allow this in public- painting this bad is vulgar and offensive!"

Tall Russian Man: "Would you like me to call the police? Surely this must be against the law. America does not allow torture, and surely having to look at this qualifies."

... and so forth.

The men eventually moved on. I saw them making small talk with the building owner. I heard my name.

I decided it was a good time to take a break, so I cleaned up a bit and was about to leave for lunch, when the tall man approached. His English was bad, more like Rusglish, but after some communicative efforts I got the jist. Here's (basically) what he said.

You are doing a very good job!

I own a chain much like this one.

I would like your services, please.

Could you make some sample boards?

Here is my information, please get back to me as soon as you can.

Certainly!

1 comment:

Just Me said...

How awesome! I'm glad you're earliest translation was incorrect. :-)