I was just wondering if someone could help me out translating a couple of Russian sentances from a classic of western cinema…by which I mean Clint Eastwood’s Firefox.
I think that’s about two different phrases, but between background noise and Eastwood’s slightly varying pronunciation, I’m not quite sure.
From the context, It’s pretty clear he’s saying something like “arm/launch weapons” (and at one point, he says something that sounds like “Raketa”—that’d be “rocket” or “missile,” right?), but I can’t tell exactly what he’s saying.
Can anyone fill me in, on the translation, and the original line?
“Launch” is in plural (or formal singular) imperative imperfect and “First” and “Second” in plural in all cases, which makes it sound fairly odd – as if he was addressing a group with several “first rockets” and several “second rockets” handy.
And could the odd sound be because he’s referring to different rocket types (Like, as in he’s got a bunch of “Type 1” missiles, and a bunch of “Type 2” missiles)?
He’s addressing the jet, not the missiles. That’s why it sounds odd. In Russian, formal singular and plural sound the same way, so either he’s addressing a group of entities and telling them to launch missiles, or he’s formally addressing the jet and telling it to do the same. It’d make no sense to refer to a group of entities inside a jet, unless each of the jet’s systems has an individual identity, but all of them need to cooperate to do something - so you address them all and tell them to do it. While this makes perfect sense from an engineering point of view, it makes zero sense from a user interface point of view, and in Russian, nobody would address their aircraft’s systems collectively like that.
So in other words, to this native Russian speaker, it sounds like he’s saying “Mr. Jet, fire type I missiles” and “Mr. Jet, fire type 2 missiles”.
Which makes it impossible for me to watch Firefox without laughing.
So you think he should say “запускай первые”? That doesnt’ make sense. The second person singular familiar is generally used only amongst friends/family or when a clear superior/subordinate relationship exists. It’s usually not used when giving military orders or instructions.
To me, if he used the familiar, he’s either good friends with the individual that will actually be launching the missiles, or he would be emphasizing the superior/subordinate relationship. It is completely normal to use the formal type of address in everyday communications.
He probably shouldn’t say “запускай первые”, either, he should say “пустить первые”. Specific military orders are typically given in infinitive or familiar, and soldiers use familiar among themselves. Formal address in the military is used to address somebody who you would not talk to without using their rank (In Soviet times, "Comrade Captain, … … " ).
However, formally addressing inanimate objects is 99% of the time done for humor value, along the lines of “Oh Mr. Jet, if you be ever so kind to please make the enemies go away”
But when you’re speaking on the radio, you’re not talking to the plane or the car or the tank, you’re talking to the operator, and as such, use the formal form of address. Unless the planes or whatever are actually sentient or somesuch. I don’t remember anything about the movie.
Or, as you mentioned he could use the infinitive, zapustit’ rakety. The ty for a command wouldn’t make sense to me. I’m not a native speaker, but I have been studying and working with Russian for about 17 years, off and on.
I don’t remember the movie either but I believe he was talking to the actual plane that responded to either voice or actual thought commands (but only in Russian?)
I cannot imagine that any yelled order towards a non-officer is going to be appropriate in mixed company, much less use the formal form of address. Yelled orders are usually vulgar, informal
(Warning: Vulgar)
“Иди вперед, блядь, вперед на хуй!” comes to mind.
However, you are right, and talking to other planes or ground control via the radio would be done using “вы”. Talking to the plane itself would most likely be done in an infinitive form, because if it was a button and not a voice command, it would be labeled in infinitive.
Yes, that’s correct. The plane was supposed to respond to thought commands, but he had to be thinking in Russian. He was chosen for the mission because (IIRC) his mother was Russian, and he was supposed to be a “native” speaker. He was saying the words mainly, I believe, as a dramatic device so that we would know that he was trying to will the commands.
If the plane is being addressed as if it were a person (and thus most emphatically a subordinate), I couldn’t imagine it being referred to formally. You don’t ask your hardware to kill the enemy, pretty-please.
Hmmm…would it depend on how the thought-control is set up? I mean, like if he had to think of the plane as an extention of his own body (“I fire/I’m firing missile one”), or maybe even if the phrasing of the command is important, as a safety system against accidents (Anyone remember the end of The Bedford Incident? “Fire one!”)?
