I thought my Russian was getting good, but I can't make heads or tails of this.
чего-чего, проституток и наркоманов этому городу не занимать!
User translations (3)
- 1.
If there's one thing this town isn't short on, it's hookers and druggies.
translation added by ⁌ ULY ⁍Gold ru-en5 - 2.
the city is infested with hookers and junkies
translation added by Vicious CircleSilver ru-en2 - 3.
the city doesn't lack hookers or junkies indeed!
translation added by Vicious CircleSilver ru-en2
Discussion (27)
hahaha, you must be in Vegas!
Doesn't занимать mean to occupy?
LOL, no, I'm actually in California. I saw this on a blog.
It means a lot of things. One of the meetings is to LEND. So figuratively this kind of means that you don't need to lend the city any hookers and druggies because it already has them in droves.
Thanks man!
Are you Russian?
No, but I've been at it for four years.
Can a native please explain to us what чего-чего actually means?
whatever else..., but...
say what you like, but...
This sentence begins with the words "чего-чего" and means that the city is, maybe, short of something , but not of hookers and druggies: there are too many of them.
Only it has to be "чего-чего, А проституток и наркоманов...". That's how this construction looks like: чего-чего, а...
It actually means exactly what Uly wrote.
Thank you, Olga. I'd never seen that before. It's interesting. So it's something like что ни говори ?
Always welcome, Uly :)
To fully understand the logic behind this phrase it's better to think about it this way (let's use a different example, something like "Чего-чего, а (уж) такси в нашем городе хватает").
If you ask someone: Много ли такси в вашем городе? They can answer "Чего-чего, а такси в нашем городе хватает" meaning that they're probably having problems with other means of public transportation but apparently not with taxi services.
Hi Olga, my Russian isn't good enough to understand the Russian parts of your comment. Could you explain it in English?
Don't feel bad, Kyle, it kind of went over my head too. But if anyone can explain it, it's Olga :)
Alongside with чего-чего, we also use кто-кто/что-что/кого-кого/кому-кому/чему-чему/кем-кем/чем-чем/о ком-о ком/о чём-о чём, тоeach one of these (the same way we use them without dubbing but) TO EMPHASIZE some idea of excessive amount or whatever. In the situation above they mean: IT'S taxies that we have more than enough.
More over, you can use ГДЕ-ГДЕ/КУДА-КУДА similar to that, often accompanied by УЖ (for stronger emphasizing):
A: Вы были в Китае?
В: (УЖ) ГДЕ-ГДЕ, а там мы были.
A: Вы ездили отдыхать в Турцию?
В: (УЖ) КУДА-КУДА, а туда мы ездили.
Hopefully, it will be helpful to some extent.
P.S. Taken some advantage of the different time zone with the most of Russia :)))
(Уж) где-где, а в Китае мы были.
IT'S China that we've been many times to.
(Уж) куда-куда, а в Турцию мы ездим часто.
IT'S Turkey that we visit most often.
(Уж) КТО-КТО, а я в тачках разбираюсь!
IT'S me who's well up in cars.
As concerning НЕ ЗАНИМАТЬ, I can just add it s like HOOKERS & DRUGGERS ARE NOT SOMETHING WE LACK IN OUR TOWN.
So, can the following make sense:
IT'S HOOKERS and DRUGGIES WHO ARE SOMETHING WE LACK IN THE TOWN?
who AREN'T
Aha, so then my interpretation was correct: if there's something our city doesn't lack, it's hookers and druggies.
Above I wrote "if anyone can explain this, it's Olga." ¿Could I say in Russian: Уж кто-кто, а Ольга это легко объясняет.
Yes. Only: объяснИт.Perfective is better here.
If there's any perfect interpretation, it's yours, Uly. Если и существует идеальный перевод, то это твой, Uly. Именно твой перевод идеален. The both sound neutral. Уж чей-чей, а твой перевод идеален. Sounds more casual.
Thank you. Good to know 😊
thank you, everyone.