Pajamas Media

74 Comments

1. JW:

Goodness, isn’t this the “smartest” woman in the world????

We’re seeing how “smart” all these democrats really are now..

It seems the old saying, “people who live in glass house’s, shouldn’t throw rocks”..is a very apt description of the folks in the Obama administration…..

wonder what that translates too in Russian?

Mar 8, 2009 - 1:50 am 2. Belmont Club » Talking to Hezbollah:

[...] coming days will provide answers we can parse. Until then take it easy and don’t peregruzka your [...]

Mar 8, 2009 - 3:25 am 3. formwiz:

We’ve been told this is the smartest woman in the world for almost 20 years, but she was hidden away from the public for much of her husband’s administration (no one was happier than Willie, one presumes) or trotted out only in heavily scripted appearances during her Senate days (remind you of anyone else?). This woman has always personified the phrase “tone-deaf” and her “foreign policy expertise” and “strength” consists of a few calculated votes to make her look Presidential. Domestic policy was always her long suit and she wasn’t very good at that, either.

Mr. Atbashian gives us an A or B choice about the reasons for this administration’s incompetence. More like A AND B.

In any case, if there’s one thing for which the world can thank Barack Obama, it’s undoubtedly saving us from President Hillary.

Mar 8, 2009 - 3:31 am 4. Class Clown:

Arrrggghhh! What a ship of fools! It already seems clear that Obama and co. are shocked, shocked! to realize that foreign relations is part of the job description!

I’ve been pondering lately how the modern liberal concept of multiculturalism may merely be cover for not actually knowing anything about other cultures. After all, it is easy to be warm and fuzzy when you don’t know anything about them; and by the same token if you really believe that there are no substantive differences, it give one tacit permission not to bother actually studying them. Has that sort of rationalized laziness now reached the State Department? Didn’t these media keep telling us that these were the smart people?

I am reminded of once being in a meeting in France in which the American speaker made a joke that didn’t translate (yes I, one of those neanderthal conservatives, do in fact speak a foreign language, thank you very much). The translator paused for a moment, and then said: “he just made a joke, everyone please laugh”. The audience let out a genuine laugh, and the speaker continued on, blissfully unaware. Funny, in that case, but it was warm-hearted in context. Shouldn’t our diplomats be capable of more? And then Clinton piles it on with an embarrassing attempt to recover! As a good friend often says, “the first rule, when you are in a hole, is to stop digging…”

And on that note, what on earth was Obama thinking with that DVD set for Gordon Brown? Did he send the Secret Service to buy it at Target for him, or does Michelle keep a closet full of white elephant gifts to give out when caught unprepared? Or maybe he thought it was heartfelt and meaningful to give out his favorite movies. In that case, we have elected our first Teenager-in-Chief! What is he going to do next, start distributing his own mix tapes?

Hey Mr. President, what’s on your iPod?

Mar 8, 2009 - 3:58 am 5. RE:

It won’t be long before the world’s opportunists start taking full advantage of the Obama administration’s ineptitude and incompetence. For the moment, I think they’re still in stunned disbelief that Americans elected such a crop of fools – but they’ll get over it.

These are the ones the bad guys have been waiting for.

Mar 8, 2009 - 3:06 am 6. Ken Hahn:

Given your choice of A or B, I’d have to go with both. The fact that Ms Clinton is a fool doesn’t eliminate the possibility that she’s also a crook.

Mar 8, 2009 - 3:42 am 7. Meryl:

This group continues to illustrate that it is impossible to

1) underestimate their group IQ;
2) overestimate their hubris;
3)overestimate the amount of damage they are willing to inflict, both domestically and internationally; and
4)project how low they will go in the next news cycle.

They are impossible to joke about because the joke always, very quickly, becomes reality.

So far, they are not very funny.

Mar 8, 2009 - 4:05 am 8. vivo:

Hillary typifies what many American do in other countries. With minimum language skills, they mispronounce and use the wrong words. People know that. They laugh and move on.

Languages with different characters (Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, etc.) are way more difficult than others. But in diplomatic circles, professional translators are required at all times.

How about encouraging our young people to learn those languages? Talk about job creation.

Mar 8, 2009 - 4:05 am 9. Linguist:

Welcome to the administration’s view of “global socialism”, where everyone is treated with the same lack of courtesy.

Can’t wait to see how this plays out with the “moderate Taliban”.

Mar 8, 2009 - 4:31 am 10. Sassenach:

There are thousands of career employees within the State Department. Surely two or three of them speak Russian. Were they all on vacation this week? Or is this a sign that the political appointees think they’re smarter than the specialists?

Mar 8, 2009 - 4:36 am 11. HardHeadedWoman:

The reason Hillary is the smartest woman in the world and BO is brilliant is because academia and all those who make up the rules as to who is and isn’t smart are a bunch of leftie dolts who are, in reality, quite stupid.

Mar 8, 2009 - 4:50 am 12. ~Paules:

I recall Jimmy Carter going to Poland where he said in a speech that he loved the Polish people. The translator got it wrong when he used the verb “to love” in its most carnal sense. To this day I still get the heebie-jeebies when a politician claims he loves his country.

Mar 8, 2009 - 5:27 am 13. Meryl:

10.Sassenach….I suspect it’s your last question that hits it.

Mar 8, 2009 - 5:36 am 14. LeighB:

The Obama Administration’s Gift Department is in serious need of better ideas and more culturally appropriate selections. What’s next, Tattoo Barbies for the Taliban?

Mar 8, 2009 - 5:47 am 15. David Levavi:

It can’t be long now before the neo-Coms in Moscow realize they’re dealing with some very familiar types in this administration. Useful idiots. At that point, relations between Obama’s America and Putin’s Russia are sure to improve.

Mar 8, 2009 - 6:14 am 16. JFP:

Leftist elites imagine that they are more knowledgeable about foreign countries than others are, but this is based on their own assessment and not that of neutral, objective third parties.

I could easily construct a short quiz on foreign cultures that most leftist elites would fail.

Mar 8, 2009 - 6:37 am 17. JD:

Worryingly inept. If you can’t count on the small details being correct, what about the larger picture…

http://trackacrat.com/category/hillary-clinton/

Mar 8, 2009 - 7:02 am 18. rebellionbrewery.com:

The Associated Press would like Americans to believe that our representatives have no clue what they are doing. Judging from comments on the various message forums Americans are gullibly buying the simplistic explanation that our State department supposedly doesn’t know how to translate the word “reset” into Russian. Nonsense! The Russian word peregruzka appears at the top of the button, spelled in latin letters. If this was meant to be a literal translation, why would the letters be in Latin? The english translation for this word is “overload” and anyone that knows how to type a few letters into an online translation website can easily figrue that much out. An english word appears below the button and that word is “reset”. These words do very much make sense together: when something is overloaded (like a circuit), you reset it.

Continued here:
http://rebellionbrewery.com/?p=312

Mar 8, 2009 - 7:17 am 19. eurabitopian:

Oh dear the perils and pitfalls of foreign languages that naifs can fall into.

How many Spanish girls have told me they are leraning English in order to find a “yob”? To which I usually reply that a yob is less likely to be interested in the level of their English than that of their mini-skirt. Or the French student who on informing the class that she “‘ate dogs” was perplexed to find the Korean student enthusiastically agreeing. Then there was the Russian student who informed the class that his wife made him “breakfust” every morning. Unfortunately, in a breathtaking feat of internal spoonerism, he managad to invert the final two letters of each syllabla.

And just why exactly do Japanese girls break down in uncontrollable, hand-over-mouth gigglea when an Italian says “chin-chin”? Why the wry grin when a Spaniard is asked how he’d like his eggs done? And please don’t ask what “Bush” means in Maltese or mix up your genders when ordereing chicken in Spanish. In fact, always be very careful when referring to either seafood or small furry animals in any language.

Mind you it rubs both ways. What is rarely appreciated is the level of misunderstanding caused by phonetic confusions such as the “Piss Process” or the “War on Tourism”. It’s extremely important that when Hirally Crinton deals with the Chinese she understand exactly what they mean by “fried rice”, “correctivism” and “human rights”. Furthermore, given his recent appearance at a late night rave at the White House, how many present mistakenly thought that Stevie was singing “My Sharia Amour”? And BTW, the answer to the Australian greeting “How ya going?” is not “by armour-plated stretch-limo dood”.

Looking forward to the next episode of the “Hillarity Clingon Show” coming all too soon on BHO state TV.

As they say in Russia; Horror show!

Mar 8, 2009 - 7:44 am 20. Doc99:

HRC – SOS …. The irony is palpable.

Mar 8, 2009 - 7:44 am 21. hdgreene:

“Push the reset button” is an American idiom that dates from the early 1950’s. At that time Stalin was in charge, so the Russian equivalent is “have them all shot.” The phrase wouldn’t make sense on a button, of course, even if that button is red. It should appear on a machine gun pin. The machine gun may appropriately be red while the victims were often pink.

Mar 8, 2009 - 9:10 am 22. TurfMonster:

The scary thing about all this is that she might be the smartest one in the administration, at least outside of Volker (who seems to have been assigned to the administration’s equivalent of Siberia).

Mar 8, 2009 - 9:13 am 23. Bilgeman:

Oleg:

Are you implying that the UberFrauFuhrer is not funny?

She is funny…like Stalin.

LAUGH, or you will be arrested.

Mar 8, 2009 - 9:19 am 24. Войска ПВО:

#1 JW writes:

“It seems the old saying, “people who live in glass house’s, shouldn’t throw rocks”..is a very apt description of the folks in the Obama administration…..

wonder what that translates too in Russian?”

“люди, которые живут в стеклянном доме, не должны бросить скалы.”

JW, to be fair, I do not speak Russian; I used an intrnet translation site. But, unlike Hillary and her coterie of idiots, I took the resulting Russian and translated it back into English to see what would happen:

“People who live in the glass house, should not throw a rock.”

You’d think that being in the State Department where you want to do as little as possible to insult your neighbors, at least that level of care would be exercised.

Mar 8, 2009 - 9:30 am 25. John:

Once again our government of preppies and Ivy Leaguers, by Ps and ILs and for Ps and Ils proves the joke that American higher education has become. From the monied halls of learning from which the American ruling class come there could not be found a scholar of Russian that could have prevented this ‘faux pas’, by the way Hilary that means mistake in French but since you are the smartest woman in the Americanized world you already know that. Here is a foreign language saying for the the new democrat regime. America Nova delenda est.

Mar 8, 2009 - 9:44 am 26. Delia:

LOL! LOL! LOL!

Mar 8, 2009 - 10:29 am 27. Night Owl:

Too bad we can’t reset the election.

Mar 8, 2009 - 2:12 pm 28. Tolik:

Oleg.

I think you are too kind to Lavrov here. He did not come up with the proper translation for “peregruzka” as “overload” because his English is good, but not that good (and not because he was too literate).

Everything else is very good, as per your high standards. Keep it up. Thanks

Mar 8, 2009 - 2:23 pm 29. Blackwell:

The USA is built by hard working guys sweating on buildings, railroads and in factories and by shrewd capitalists that gave value for a dollar and designed and built big ships, factories and software. But we send abroad these talentless hacks whose only ability is . . .what again?

Mar 8, 2009 - 2:40 pm 30. RobertG:

Miss “Two For One” Hillary at odds with the Russians isn’t a good thing and it isn’t a bad thing: She does not matter and the Russians do not either.

But it is a cute side show. “the vodka is agreeable but the meat has gone bad” is fine;
“the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” would mean nothing to Miss Hillary, the White Trash MonicaMan, the Obaminites or the Russian Thugocracy. I doubt it would mean much to the MSM mugs reporting on it. And if Liberals do “(a) half-assed job” that is not a bad thing–there is no good is doing evil well.

I do not wish to seem to bitter, too worried during Lent–but I do have children and grandchildren to protect from the Obaminites, William Ayres and the like.

” Night Owl:

Too bad we can’t reset the election.” True, but time to start working on the next one.

Mar 8, 2009 - 2:56 pm 31. keithacita:

did i miss something or did she not mention the urgency of dealing with climate change with the russians and palestinians. must be some kind of dissonance compaign she’s running with her “smart” diplomacy operation.

Mar 8, 2009 - 3:04 pm 32. kathy:

8. vivo
Languages with different characters (Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, etc.) are way more difficult than others.
Monolinguists often believe this hogwash & think such statements make them appear informed.

But in diplomatic circles, professional translators are required at all times.
Clueless again vivo – I’m a Foreign Service embassy-brat, lived the ‘Diplomatic Circles’ life & it’s clear to me you know zero about it and are making it up as you go.

Busted

Mar 8, 2009 - 3:21 pm 33. typos_R_us:

“”Too bad we can’t reset the election.” True, but time to start working on the next one.”

RobertG, you are assuming there will be a ‘next one’. I’m not so sure that is a valid assumption. All the evidence seems to point for the ‘08 election being the last one.

Mar 8, 2009 - 3:25 pm 34. kathy:

19. eurabitopian

Hee Hee, that was great! Transliteral funning & punning at it’s best. Do you also incorporate a given phrase, translated literally into your native-tongue & use the mangled translation in place of the ‘correct’ phrase? As in something like much more better (mucho mas mejor)

I’m a big fan of signage language mangling. Perhaps you know Engrish.com?

Mar 8, 2009 - 4:32 pm 35. Sergey Ivanov:

“We worked hard to get the right Russian word,” -
Shame on you,Hillary Clinton!

Mar 8, 2009 - 4:59 pm 36. Sarkis:

4. Class Clown: — you got it about multicults imagining all cultures are same — reminds me of an episode in Aksyonov’s memoir “In Search of Melancholy Baby” where the author (a Russian immigrant) is asked at a Q&A session by one such what are attitudes in Russia toward their black population. When answered that Russia doesn’t have any, the interlocutor remains incredulous. Aksyonov properly interprets it as you did, Class. In general, the book has some amazing insights that the author may not be aware of himself, e.g. on the permanent wound that Europe suffered with the oil embargo of the seventies.
24. Войска ПВО: — your translator picked a rock about the size of Plymouth Rock.
8. vivo: — alphabet is not what makes Russian hard (”Clockwork Orange” author claimed you need a day or two, tops, to learn phonetic Russian), morphology (word-morphing) does — in Hilary’s case attaching one prefix instead of two.

Mar 8, 2009 - 5:00 pm 37. vivo:

32. kathy:

” I’m a Foreign Service embassy-brat,”

I’m referring to ordinary citizens. An embassy brat is surrounded by foreign languages in many forms and lives in the countries talking the language: learning is almost automatic. I never needed to learn those languages but was intimidated by what looks like complex symbols and pronunciation. I have no problem with Romance languages and characters.

Mar 8, 2009 - 6:22 pm 38. vivo:

35. Sarkis:

“8. vivo: — alphabet is not what makes Russian hard (”Clockwork Orange” author claimed you need a day or two, tops, to learn phonetic Russian), morphology (word-morphing) does — in Hilary’s case attaching one prefix instead of two.”

Interesting. Thanks.

Mar 8, 2009 - 6:25 pm 39. Oscar the Grump:

kathy
You’re still a brat. By the way “busted”, how big busted are you?

Mar 8, 2009 - 6:35 pm 40. WALLY LIND:

The Russian Foreign Minister handled it very well. He is not a rookie. I guess the role of First Lady doesn’t really prepare you for a job with actual duties and responsiblities (which senators don’t have).

Mar 8, 2009 - 9:55 pm 41. kathy:

39.Grumpy
You got dat right: once an FSB always a TCK

What, you’ve never heard of The Art of Judicious Chest-binding?

Mar 8, 2009 - 10:31 pm 42. kathy:

39. Grumpy
You got dat right: once an FSB always a TCK

What, you’ve never heard of The Fine Art of Judicious Binding?

Mar 8, 2009 - 10:44 pm 43. TomF:

We have sent our checker players to a chess match.
When I first saw the article about the big orange button, I thought it was political satire. I figured it was from The Onion or something similar.

-First, I would have been too embarrassed to give such a corny and stupid gift in the first place.
-Second, couldn’t they have at least used the Cyrillic alphabet?

What is scary is that condition of our State department. If we don’t have someone competent enough to know the language of one of the world’s superpowers, it shows that we are in big trouble. I have lived in the former Soviet Union 15 years now and have a very good understanding of how they think and feel. I believe what really bugs the Russians is that they have to condescend to talk with inferiors, who represent a nation that is considered more “powerful.” The Soviets respected Reagan and disdained Carter. I believe to a certain degree Putin respected Bush, at least in comparison to the present administration. The Russians will respect a truly strong “opponent” even if they hate them. The also expect to be treated with the same respect. A fake orange button as a gift doesn’t convey respect. (By the way what does a big bright button convey to any of you. Couldn’t we be sending the WRONG message.) Though I have plenty more to say, I better end with this.
At the poker table of world affairs, we have some first rate rummy players.
By the way “overload” is a good translation of the word.

Mar 9, 2009 - 1:44 am 44. Beate Schmidt:

Here in Germany we where told that Obamas girls can learn to talk russian and chinese at their nice shool. So the world only has to wait a little while to see the smart new american diplomacy.Perhaps one of the little Biden boys is learning german just this moment.

Mar 9, 2009 - 4:37 am 45. Beate Schmidt:

Just thinking about the “gift theme”: If Gordon Brown, who is allmost blind,has got those DVDs
perhaps for our chancler Merkel a bikini could be a nice choice. But thinking that America is in “in the heart of a crisis”, one houer Work out whith Michelle would be less expencive and also smart!
But do not think you are alone in the world! When,jears ago, Bill Clinton visitet Berlin, our chancler Schröder made him happy by giving him a cigar in front of the cameras.
There is a special form of politesse on the left

Mar 9, 2009 - 5:37 am 46. Jewel:

Still stuck on symbolism as opposed to realism. She should have presented him with a battery operated vibrator with the word peregruzka now! Stamped somewhere on it….near a button of some sort. That’s a joke they might have gotten.

Mar 9, 2009 - 6:33 am 47. Stephen G. Barone:

Being Secretary of State isn’t one of those jobs that lends itself to being cutesy. And at the risk of understatement, there’s nothing cute about Hillary Clinton. Condee Rice, yes. But Hillary Clinton, no. Please read more at http://www.halfjoking.net

Mar 9, 2009 - 7:28 am 48. D. Grant Chee----:

Silly Hilly is a rank amateur lawyer with a shallow feminist attitude who will harm the USA.
Oba appointed her to gain the fem support he depends on for reelection. HRC is as dangerous as her boss, Obama! I do agree with jewel’s comment above; a vibrator would have been an appropriate gift from fem hill! Can anyone
name an accomplishment by either Barack/Hiller?

Mar 9, 2009 - 7:45 am 49. EJK:

To be fair, I think that the word that Clinton was looking for was “perezagruzka”, not “peregruzka”. Just two letter (”za”) off the mark.

Mar 9, 2009 - 7:57 am 50. Hyphenated American:

I was perplexed when I read Hillary’s reply – but being a native Russian speaker, I knew the meaning of the original world “peregruzka”, and

Anyway, Hillary is still a smart kid compared to JFK – the poor guy told the Germans that he was a doughnut – when he was trying to say he was a Berliner.

Mar 9, 2009 - 8:07 am 51. David Gillies:

@eurabitopian: you should see the look on an Italian restaurant waiter’s face in a Spanish-speaking country when someone tries to order penne pasta.

Mar 9, 2009 - 9:32 am 52. Jeff Weimer:

Incidentally, Hillary Clinton’s linguistic episode in Geneva also clarified the translation of the Obama administration’s term “worked hard,” which in plain English means “did half-assed job.”

I am SO stealing that line. It fits in with the current foreign policy – movies for a nearly blind man, anyone?

Mar 9, 2009 - 10:54 am 53. COL.SEBASTIAN MORAN:

BILGEMAN
#23
Russian radio station promo: WKGB – ” We know where you live !”
You WILL laugh, comrade !

Mar 9, 2009 - 11:31 am 54. gary fouse:

It is obvious that the “smartest woman in the world” knows nothing about being a diplomat.

Mar 9, 2009 - 4:56 pm 55. Kurt Nicklas:

Funny thing is, it’s Lavrov who’s mistaken – or possible lying is the correct word. For example, to reboot(reset) a computer the noun is, in fact, ‘peregruzka’. Hillary was right. Lavrov was wrong.

Mar 9, 2009 - 4:56 pm 56. Class Clown:

45. Beate Schmidt.

Gordon Brown is “nearly blind”? I read the news carefully, but I did not realize that fact. Now the Teenager-in-Chief’s gift of a $40 pre-packaged DVD set is even more absurd!

Mar 9, 2009 - 5:30 pm 57. Bilgeman:

#41 kathy:
“You got dat right: once an FSB always a TCK”

I’ve always preferred the term “DiploBrat”, myself.

Mar 9, 2009 - 6:17 pm 58. Red Square:

Thank you all for your comments. I think everyone would agree that eurabitopian gets the prize. Ochen’ horror show! (horosho)

Kurt – How does one reset a computer? Restore factory settings by going through system recovery and lose all your data? Thanks a lot. The correct noun for rebooting a computer is ‘pere-ZA-gruzka’. To reboot is not to reset. And why would Lavrov lie about this? He may indeed lie about something else many times over, but not about some stupid plastic button with nonsensical arrows.

——————————————–
Speaking of jokes and red buttons, here’s a really stupid cold-war Khrushchev joke that I’m sure many Russians will still remember:

Khrushchev is visiting Kennedy in the Oval Office when Kennedy decides to make a joke on the Soviet leader. He sits him at his desk, shows him the switchboard, and says, “You can pick the phones, pull the switches, and do anything you want – just don’t touch this red button here.”

Khrushchev is playing with the switchboard, but he’s getting very curious about the red button. So when the American is not looking, he presses it. Immediately, a boxer glove on a spring flies out of the switchboard and hits Khrushchev on the nose.

Then it comes time for Kennedy to visit Moscow. Khrushchev is showing the US President his Kremlin office, which also has a switchboard with a red button. Khrushchev says, “Sit at my desk, please. You can pick the phones, pull the switches, and do anything you want – just don’t touch the red button.”

Kennedy thinks Khrushchev must be very stupid, to pull the same trick on him. So when the Soviet leader turns away, Kennedy covers his face and pushes the red button. But nothing happens.

“It’s not working,” Kennedy laughs. “Your red button is broken.”
“Oh well,” Khrushchev laughs back, “just forget it.”
“Forget what, the button?”
“Forget there was an America.”

——–
Just another bell this button will ring in a Russian head…

See my photoshopped cartoon here >>

Mar 9, 2009 - 6:38 pm 59. Kevin R.:

But the important thing is that the Obama administration used this meeting to infer that the Bush administration had so screwed up diplomatic relations with Russia that those relations had to be completely “reset.” Thank goodness Hillary is on the job. I think she should be made to wear a reset button around her neck for the next four years.

Mar 9, 2009 - 7:37 pm 60. HT:

8. vivo,

That’s a funny, right? Hillary is the head of the Department of State. Last I checked that is the department supposedly most qualified to deal with those damn foreigners, like … well, translate words and stuff. Every language learning program, school, etc. I have every attended or heard an advertisement for proclaims loudly that they are used by the wait for it … the Department of State. One would suppose that she is well aware of this. This department is there specifically to prevent these kinds of problems for our diplomats “[w]ith minimum language skills, [who] mispronounce and use the wrong words.”

Come on, man. I expected better from you. You’re really losing your touch here.

Mar 10, 2009 - 2:58 pm 61. Lauren:

But even if the brilliant Mrs Clinton had managed to find a competent translator at the State Dept., who gives the Russian foreign minister a silly toy “reset” button? What is she, twelve? This is statesmanship? That’s up there with giving the Prime Minister of the UK a pack of DVDs from Walmart.

Then when she learns that the word says “overcharge”, she starts babbling “Well we’re not gonna let you do that to us!!”
What the hell is she talking about? She’s the idiot standing there with an ‘overcharge” button.

And this stupid “reset button” gimmick isn’t for the benefit of Russian relations in the first place. It’s a childishly obvious slap at the previous administration.
The only reason the Russians would be interested in hostilities between past and present administrations would be if they could exploit them. Do you think Hillary could figure that out? I don’t either.

Mar 10, 2009 - 3:56 pm 62. Oscar the Grump:

Did you say Hillary’s “slip” was showing?

Mar 10, 2009 - 8:53 pm 63. FrederickP:

This is the best you lot can come up with?

Clinton is Secretary of State. Deal with it, kiddies.

Mar 10, 2009 - 9:13 pm 64. Marc Malone:

vivo – I speak Russian, German, French, Spanish, and a little Japanese (and of course, English). I didn’t find any one of them harder than the others. Certain sounds are very different as represented by phonetics, but the ears will tell you. Japanese took just a bit of getting used to, because they speak indirectly. It’s like using passive voice all the time.

I say this, because I seriously looked into becoming a professional interpreter in the 80’s. I found out an ugly truth. It pays squat. I would have to have fluency in 2-7 languages. Further, I would have to have a Masters in one of five fields: PoliSci; MilSci; Engineering; Computers; or International Finance. After accomplishing all this, I would have earned, if fully employed, $5k-$10k more per year than I would if simply working in the field. Full employment as an interpreter is very problematic.

Do you know why it pays squat? Because stupid people who need your services, who would never consider learning a foreign language because it’s too hard, don’t value the skill at all. Like Hillary. You would think someone would try to teach her how to pronounce names correctly. Never screw up someone’s name, nor make jokes about it. They are always very sensitive about their names. Do you think someone maybe tried? Do you think she tried to learn, or maybe instead, she blew them off? I’m thinking it was just a case of, “Good enough for government work.”

Amateurs, the lot of them. Why not put Hillary there? Foreign affairs is the Siberia of the Obama administration. They couldn’t care less. Compare Obama’s selection of Hillary to Bush’s selections of Colin Powell and Condi Rice. Guess Bush wasn’t so dumb after all.

Voiska PBO – The correct word is “kameni” (stones). even in English, rocks are big things weighing many… stones. Telling children to stop throwing rocks creates a funny picture to someone who knows the meanings of words.

Mar 11, 2009 - 12:35 am 65. vivo:

64. Marc Malone:

“I say this, because I seriously looked into becoming a professional interpreter in the 80’s. I found out an ugly truth. It pays squat.”

Yes, it’s a sad truth. I also tried to do some translation work and it wasn’t worth it: lots of work for little pay. And bilingual people are not paid any more than monolinguals at many service or supervisory jobs. You just have to be self-motivated to learn other languages.

Mar 11, 2009 - 4:37 am 66. Jeff K:

Oh snap! I was hoping Hillary was the one appointee that had some clue how to run a government. (no sarcasm intended) It’s going to be a long four years.

Off the point, someone should start watching how long the Dem’s continue to blame GW or their failures…I’ll bet their still referencing him in 4 years.

Mar 11, 2009 - 9:50 am 67. Bama:

Thank you, 58. Red Square, for understanding that the problem with this pathetic scenario is not the poor translation, but the fact that Mrs. Clinton is so provincial, so unthinking, so self-absorbed with her own grudges, that she could not figure out that a Russian could look at her sad little “overcharge” button and see it as a LAUNCH button. This is the brilliant woman who all my feminist friends just had to have as their president.

Mar 11, 2009 - 10:55 am 68. Jim E:

Pretty sure “perigruzka” is also used in an engineering context to mean “proof load”. In this sense the meaning of Hill’s infamous button could be described as: “test beyond normal operating range to see if anything breaks”.

Completely out of depth.

Mar 11, 2009 - 11:39 am 69. W. Shedd:

I’m not sure what crappy translator Oleg is using, but “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” does not translate into “the vodka is agreeable but the meat has gone bad” (instead we get “Дух бодр, но плоть слаба”)

And “out of sight, out of mind” does not translate into “invisible lunatics” (instead we get с глаз долой, из сердца вон).

Both of these translations are correct. I didn’t use some exotic translation program for this – simply Google translate http://translate.google.com/ I think even the US State Department has access to such high technology.

The problem with Clinton’s poor translation was not as complicated as you make out. They simply did it wrong. It was a very lame joke in both the US and in Russia. It was not some cultural mistake that illustrates the difference in American and Russian cultures. It was just a bad joke that no one outside of Clinton’s office would ever find funny.

Mar 11, 2009 - 12:41 pm 70. JED:

I think that Clinton and her smarter diplomacy were right. “Overcharge” and not “reset” seems to be the mandate of the new administration. Overcharge trillions in new social experimental spending. Overcharge the expectations of diplomacy. Overcharge the expectations of hope. Overcharge the Iranians for their new bomb and air defense. Overcharge all of the credit cards. Overcharge the coming taxes and inflation and price of crude. Overcharge the endless list of radical changes.

Mar 11, 2009 - 2:55 pm 71. Oscar the Grump:

I just watched the news and saw Hillary acting as a cheerleader for Michelle Obama. They both are still glowing because of election victory.
I wonder how long the glow will last.

Its going to be interesting when they are both forced down to earth.

I just heard another thing. Pelosi likes riding around on military jets and gets upset when one is not available. These planes cost #22,000 per hour to operate. She must be worth it……

Mar 11, 2009 - 9:04 pm 72. Frank:

Secretary Clinton’s only gaffe was that the button was given to the wrong recipient. The Obama administration should not have given the “Overcharge” button to Russia.
It was meant for the American citizens for the Economic Stimulus Package.

Mar 14, 2009 - 7:17 am 73. tezzer:

y’all got it all wrong. You’re mistaking the ‘r’ in overlord for an ‘a’ in overload. Besides which, I think this whole thing should be thrown overboard. How’s that translate into Russian?

падение из лодки

Apr 20, 2009 - 5:34 am 74. M. Report:

@ 50 HyphAm

That is what I was taught;
Turns out that JFK’s translator
had him use the correct emphatic
phrasing: _I_ am a Berliner.

Jul 30, 2009 - 7:33 pm

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