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в качестве консультанта по формированию и защите позиции
становится лауреатом
Sep 19, 2013 17:26
10 yrs ago
Russian term

Лучше уже было!

Russian to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature punchline to a joke
A character is telling a joke.

"Приходит озабоченный Рабинович к ребе и спрашивает:

Ребе, ну когда уже будет лучше?

Ребе: Лучше? Лучше уже было!"

Aside from reducing "озабоченный Рабинович" to a prosaic "distressed Jew" (I can't think of a proper Рабинович equivalent), I'm struggling with the punchline. Short and snappy in Russian, it invariably turns into something long and dull in English.

I'm open to rewriting the joke, as long as the meaning (which embodies Jewishness superbly, even if the joke itself isn't very funny) is retained. TIA.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +5 - When's life going to get better? - It already has, didn't you notice?
4 +10 Better was last month! (+ variations)
4 +2 ' Better future? Better future's behind us!
4 +1 The better times are already behind us.
3 +2 Better? You've already had it better!
4 +1 Better? I've seen better.
3 The good times have come and gone.
3 Gooder and gooder...
3 Is it going to get better? - It can only get worse.

Discussion

Yulia Savelieva Sep 19, 2013:
As my uncle liked to say... Today life's worse than yesterday, but better than tomorrow! )))
Mark Berelekhis (asker) Sep 19, 2013:
Please realize this is a punchline... Sarah, Lilian, thank you for your suggestions. But this is a punchline -- it should elicit at least a chuckle, not outright depression :)

Proposed translations

+5
44 mins
Selected

- When's life going to get better? - It already has, didn't you notice?

- When's life going to get better?
- It already has, didn't you notice?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 52 mins (2013-09-19 18:18:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

- Will life ever turn around for us?
- Sure, it's getting worse already!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 56 mins (2013-09-19 18:22:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

- Will life ever get better?
- Didn't you hear? Worse is the new better!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 58 mins (2013-09-19 18:24:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

- Will life ever get better?
- It sure will... get the better of you.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2013-09-19 18:26:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

- Will things get better?
- They sure can't get any worse.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2013-09-19 18:27:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

- Will life ever get better?
- It's getting better... at getting worse.
Peer comment(s):
agree Shelley Fairweather-Vega : Genius!
37 mins
Thanks!!
agree Judith Hehir : Good stuff, Mikhail.
48 mins
Thanks!
neutral LilianNekipelov : The tenses are in disagreement, don't you think?
1 hr
That's everyday spoken English, I believe
agree rikka : with your 2nd suggestion
1 hr
Thank you!
agree The Misha : I take my hat off to the sheer number of options you offered. However, technically, they are all mistranslations, except possibly the didn't you notice one.
2 hrs
Just trying to be creative. Thanks for your support.
agree MariyaN (X)
3 days 4 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "This was a hard one, but I ended up going with 'worse is the new better' simply because I felt it was the funniest option, IMHO (while retaining the original meaning). Thanks to everyone!"
+1
4 mins

The better times are already behind us.

I think so.
Peer comment(s):
agree skymir : I find this one to be the closest in meaning and still retain a modicum of humor. The humor is the fact that Ребе is in a double meaning. He is expressing with enthusiasm how good the times have been, unfortunately they are in the past.
3 days 15 hrs
Something went wrong...
18 mins

The good times have come and gone.

In my opinion this is what he's trying to say.
Something went wrong...
+2
37 mins

Better? You've already had it better!

The implication being that it's only going to go down from here. Just thinking out loud, another way would be to come up with some play on "it's going to get worse before it gets any better". In any case, I don't envy you this one:)
Peer comment(s):
agree rikka : this is the closest to the original in form and meaning, i think
1 hr
agree MariyaN (X)
3 days 4 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
1 hr

Better? I've seen better.

The standard expression, but with a different emphasis. Gives you a little pause while you figure it out. Funny.
Peer comment(s):
agree Stanislav Lemesev
54 mins
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

Gooder and gooder...

- When are things getting gooder and gooder?
- Why?! They was "gooder". Where were you then?

Something like this. "Gooder and gooder" has an element of a joke in itself, you may want to use it.

"They was" - (may) add a bit of grammatical humour.

Something went wrong...
+10
50 mins

Better was last month! (+ variations)

So Rabinovich is all upset and he goes to his Rabbi.
"Rabbi," he says, "When's it going to be better?"
The Rabbi says, "You want better? Better was last month!"

Variations:
"last year", "last week"
"Better already happened!"
"You already had better!"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 53 mins (2013-09-19 18:19:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

If you've heard a lot of jokes like that, of course you know that in delivery the emphasis is on LAST.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2013-09-20 00:10:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Come to think of it, you can make up for being unable in writing to show the emphasis on "last," by putting "already" - at the end, not anywhere else: "Better was last week already!"
Peer comment(s):
agree The Misha : I think this is the best we can do here, both in terms of the letter and the spirit. It also kind of sounds right for a Jewish joke.
2 hrs
Thanks, Misha. The thing is, it's a compressed version of a famous Yiddish parable, which has been published, for example, as "It Could Always Be Worse" and as "Terrible, Terrible!" So the PUNCH LINE has to express that. "Better was BEFORE!"
agree David Knowles : better was last month!//I thought of "better's been and gone" but I prefer your "last month"
3 hrs
Thanks, David. / I closed my eyes and listened to how my beloved New York-born, second-generation immigrant, Jewish late grandfather would have told the joke.
agree Maria Mizguireva : именно прошедшее время тут и нужно
5 hrs
Thanks, Maria.
agree Max Deryagin : Spot on, in my opinion.
5 hrs
Thanks, Max.
agree cyhul
7 hrs
Thank you.
agree Andrew Vdovin
12 hrs
Thanks, Andrew.
agree alex suhoy
17 hrs
Thanks, Alex.
agree svetlana cosquéric
23 hrs
Thanks, Svetlana.
agree Sarah McDowell
1 day 11 hrs
Thanks, Sarah.
agree MariyaN (X)
3 days 4 hrs
Thanks, Mariya.
Something went wrong...
13 hrs

Is it going to get better? - It can only get worse.

...
Something went wrong...
+2
1 day 1 hr

' Better future? Better future's behind us!

I tried to make it funnier...
Peer comment(s):
agree Leniana Koroleva
21 hrs
Спасибо, Лениана
agree MariyaN (X)
2 days 3 hrs
thanks, Mariya.
Something went wrong...
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