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Kyle Palmerasked for translation 8 years ago
How to translate? (ru-en)

чего-чего, проституток и наркоманов этому городу не занимать!

User translations (3)

  1. 1.

    If there's one thing this town isn't short on, it's hookers and druggies.

    translation added by ⁌ ULY ⁍
    Gold ru-en
    5
  2. 2.

    the city is infested with hookers and junkies

    translation added by Vicious Circle
    Silver ru-en
    2
  3. 3.

    the city doesn't lack hookers or junkies indeed!

    translation added by Vicious Circle
    Silver ru-en
    2

Discussion (27)

Kyle Palmeradded a comment 8 years ago

I thought my Russian was getting good, but I can't make heads or tails of this.

⁌ ULY ⁍added a comment 8 years ago

hahaha, you must be in Vegas!

Kyle Palmeradded a comment 8 years ago

Doesn't занимать mean to occupy?

Kyle Palmeradded a comment 8 years ago

LOL, no, I'm actually in California. I saw this on a blog.

⁌ ULY ⁍added a comment 8 years ago

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.

Kyle Palmeradded a comment 8 years ago

Are you Russian?

⁌ ULY ⁍added a comment 8 years ago

No, but I've been at it for four years.

⁌ ULY ⁍added a comment 8 years ago

Can a native please explain to us what чего-чего actually means?

Irena Oadded a comment 8 years ago

whatever else..., but...
say what you like, but...

Маргарита Т.added a comment 8 years ago

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.

Holy Molyadded a comment 8 years ago

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.

⁌ ULY ⁍added a comment 8 years ago

Thank you, Olga. I'd never seen that before. It's interesting. So it's something like что ни говори ?

Holy Molyadded a comment 8 years ago

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.

Kyle Palmeradded a comment 8 years ago

Hi Olga, my Russian isn't good enough to understand the Russian parts of your comment. Could you explain it in English?

⁌ ULY ⁍added a comment 8 years ago

Don't feel bad, Kyle, it kind of went over my head too. But if anyone can explain it, it's Olga :)

Tatiana Gerasimenkoadded a comment 8 years ago

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 :)))

Tatiana Gerasimenkoadded a comment 8 years ago

(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.

Tatiana Gerasimenkoadded a comment 8 years ago

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?

⁌ ULY ⁍added a comment 8 years ago

Aha, so then my interpretation was correct: if there's something our city doesn't lack, it's hookers and druggies.

⁌ ULY ⁍added a comment 8 years ago

Above I wrote "if anyone can explain this, it's Olga." ¿Could I say in Russian: Уж кто-кто, а Ольга это легко объясняет.

Tatiana Gerasimenkoadded a comment 8 years ago

Yes. Only: объяснИт.Perfective is better here.

Tatiana Gerasimenkoadded a comment 8 years ago

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.

⁌ ULY ⁍added a comment 8 years ago

Thank you. Good to know 😊

Kyle Palmeradded a comment 8 years ago

thank you, everyone.

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