From akuaku, a most enjoyable Russian limerick:
Говорят, что у нас на Урале(Via Avva. The slang term vint for 'hard drive' is apparently from Winchester, "the name of one of the first popular hard disk drive technologies developed by IBM in 1973.")
Деревянный компьютер собрали.
Без гвоздей, топором!
Винт, модем, сидиром!
Мышь живую в сарае поймали.Govoryat chto u nas na Urale
Derevyannyi kompyuter sobrali.
Bez gvozdei, toporom!
Vint, modem, sidirom!
Mysh' zhivuyu v sarae poimali.The brilliant version by frequent commenter Noetica (a literal translation is in the extended entry):
They made in the Urals, it's said,
A PC that's wooden, instead.
With no nails, just an axe,
And with cheap hardware hacks -
Like the mouse, which they caught in the shed.
Literal translation:
They say that in the Urals
they've assembled a wooden computer.
Without nails, using an axe!
Hard drive, modem, CD-ROM!
The mouse they caught alive in the barn.
Gosh, I remember HDs being called Winchesters when I was a kid in England.
Posted by: marnanel at February 2, 2005 08:47 PMJargon file says: "There is a legend that the name arose because the original 1973 engineering prototype for what later became the IBM 3340 featured two 30-megabyte volumes; 30--30 became ‘Winchester’ when somebody noticed the similarity to the common term for a famous Winchester rifle".
Posted by: Douglas Davidson at February 2, 2005 08:55 PMI love it. I was trying to puzzle out what a сидир was, thinking I was looking at the instrumental.
Posted by: Qov at February 2, 2005 10:48 PMA Russian-speaking colleague tells me this:
"I am afraid, the beauty of the third line will escape the Western reader - it refers to the historical phenomenon of Northern Russia - there are a number of wonderful churches and monasteries build of wood only - they still stand tall after many centuries."
Posted by: Affetuoso at February 3, 2005 12:03 AMThey made in the Urals, it's said,
A PC that's wooden, instead.
With no nails, just an axe,
And with cheap hardware hacks -
Like the mouse, which they caught in the shed.
Brilliant! I fooled around for a bit trying to produce an English equivalent, but gave up too quickly.
Posted by: language hat at February 3, 2005 08:39 AM%syn(Cool|Nice|Rulezz)% %syn(blog,|portal| site ! I)% hope to make %syn(my own|own weblog|my diary)%, not worse than yours ;)
Posted by: Jocelyn Piersall at February 3, 2005 12:02 PMPerhaps Noetica's version should be promoted to the front page?
Posted by: Michael Farris at February 3, 2005 12:35 PMSkazano -- sdelano (no sooner said than done)!
Posted by: language hat at February 3, 2005 01:51 PMThank you! I am gratified to be promoted to the front row, just this once. (I confess: I have trouble resisting re-rhyming whatever has been de-rhymed.)
There once was a figure called rhyme
Which turned out to take too much time.
So translators decided
To do not what I did,
But "focus on what's more sublime".
Since the OEDILF loves limericks, I just had to post this one there for everyone to appreciate.
Posted by: sigg at February 4, 2005 10:37 AMI should say, I posted it in the forum, not as a limerick to go in the project.
Posted by: sigg at February 4, 2005 10:41 AMBrilliant translation.
@ Affetuoso: you forgot Finland
Posted by: cottoncandyhammer at February 5, 2005 11:29 PMHmm, figure called rhyme...
I remember a rhyme, in german
Ist denn das Volk der Reimerchen
Seit Gottfried Benn im Eimerchen?
Wolfgang Neuss
Don´t translate it in elsewhotsoever...!
mfg oas
Posted by: Otto A. Schell at February 13, 2005 01:13 AM