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Glossary entry

Russian term or phrase:

на сходе первого десятилетия

English translation:

as the first decade ... wanes

Added to glossary by Viachaslau
Nov 1, 2009 18:21
14 yrs ago
Russian term

на сходе

Russian to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Сегодня, ***на сходе*** первого десятилетия нового века, «все течет, все изменяется» намного быстрее
Proposed translations (English)
4 +6 as the first decade ... wanes
4 +1 on the turn of the first decade
4 as the first decade of the new century is sliding away
4 ....draws to a close/as the curtain falls...
3 on the expiry (of)
3 -1 fading away

Discussion

Jim Tucker (X) Nov 3, 2009:
Of course a period of time can wane "The waning year" is so widely used, it's almost a cliché. Time itself can also wane. There is nothing the least bit wrong with this type of expression.
Rachel Douglas Nov 2, 2009:
Periods of time can "wane" I put this as a comment on Dan's vote under my entry, but I'll repeat it here. "To wane" and "waning" are used very frequently with respect to periods of time. Yes, that may coincide with a sense of the influence of that period of time dimming or fading, but that's not a hard and fast rule. After all, how does a period of time dim or fade? - it approaches its end. In any event, think of Huizinga's book "The Waning of the Middle Ages". There's a Hudson Valley-school painting called "The Waning of the Year." ... Also, I don't think of "to wane" as being always lofty/poetical/"lovely". It's a versatile and powerful verb.
Libero_Lang_Lab Nov 2, 2009:
Michael, you are quite right. 'Waning' means diminishing in size... originally referring to the moon. Influence can wane, interest can wane, demand can wane... but a period of time cannot wane. A decade doesn't diminish in size, it starts and then it comes to an end! This is the sort of thing that a rigorous sub-editor at a serious magazine or newspaper would have a fit about!
Michael Korovkin Nov 2, 2009:
na skhode The prob with fade, wane and the like is that poetic enough as those terms are in this context, they also convey a hint of "weakenning", which, of course, has nothing to do with the case in point. On the other hand, "on the turn of"/ "at the end of" are absolutely correct but in my view too prosaic to render "na skhode"

Proposed translations

+6
14 mins
Selected

as the first decade ... wanes

I like verbs.

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Note added at 39 mins (2009-11-01 19:00:52 GMT)
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Reply to asker:

There are some verbs which, I think for semantic reasons, are just as comfortable in the simple present as the progressive. "As the decade is waning...", "As the decade wanes..." - to me, "wanes" just sounds simpler, and more elegant. One syllable vs. three. And, no, it's not because of the old soap opera, "As the World Turns", although notice that it was not titled "As the World Is Turning."

But the other good reason to use the simple present, is that you are not translating one prepositional phrase, but a whole sentence. I don't know how you plan to write «все течет, все изменяется», but the whole will likely sound better, if you use simple in one place and progressive in the other: "... as the first decade ... wanes, 'everything is flowing ...' much faster." Or, the other way around, although, no, I just don't like the sound of "is waning".

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Note added at 44 mins (2009-11-01 19:06:07 GMT)
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Evidence of why "to wane" might be stuck in one's head in the simple present:

THESEUS. Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace: four happy days bring in
Another moon; but O! methinks how slow
This old moon wanes; she lingers my desires,
Like to a step-dame, or a dowager
Long withering out a young man’s revenue.
-- A Midsummer Night's Dream, I, 1


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Note added at 46 mins (2009-11-01 19:07:25 GMT)
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See, Shakespeare's moon wanes in the simple present, even though the comparison, "a dowager ... withering" is in the present progressive.


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Note added at 54 mins (2009-11-01 19:16:10 GMT)
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For whatever reason, the form "waning" is strongly adjectival in my mind. Just now, I had the notion that maybe "wanes" or "is waning" was in an anniversary memorial speech which Senator Edward Kennedy gave for his brother in the 1980s. I just looked that up, but it was the adjectival form:

"On bright summer afternoons at Cape Cod, or in this waning season of the year, how often we still think of him in all his vigor and say to ourselves, 'We miss you, Jack, and always will'."

(President Kennedy was killed in late November.)
Note from asker:
oh, here is when "nativeness" manifests itself. Your variant sounds wonderful! ;-)
And if i put it into the progressive form? Grammatically, it should be correct. But it is not for the first time that native speakers use simple tense forms where i would probably choose to use continuous ones. Appreciate your help and clarifications, Rachel :-)
Peer comment(s):
agree Maria Fokin
1 min
Thanks, Maria.
agree irssy : I couldn't think of a better translation! Accurate and beautiful.
17 mins
Thank you.
agree Jim Tucker (X) : Simple present.
20 mins
Thanks, Jim.
agree Jack Doughty
1 hr
Thanks, Jack.
agree Judith Hehir
1 hr
Thanks, Judith.
agree Rinnel
10 hrs
Thanks, Jekaterina.
neutral Libero_Lang_Lab : I'm going to buck the trend here, and say that I don't think 'wane' - lovely as it is - works for temporal expressions. Literally, it is used to refer to the moon; metaphorically, it can be used in relation to influence etc but not time I think.
18 hrs
Thanks for the discussion, Dan. But in my view it would be a mistake to think of "to wane" as strictly lofty/poetical/lovely. It's a common concept for periods of time: "the waning of the year", famous history book "The Waning of the Middle Ages", etc.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Rachel, thnank you very much!!! "
+1
3 mins

on the turn of the first decade

.
Peer comment(s):
agree Alla_K : ECOLOGICAL PARASITOLOGY ON THE TURN OF MILLENNIUM http://www.zin.ru/conferences/eps/
3 mins
agree Andrew Vdovin
12 hrs
disagree Libero_Lang_Lab : Firstly it would be 'At the turn', not 'On the turn'... and this would imply the start of the decade not the end of the decade... 'At the turn of the 20th century' means at the start of the 20th century
17 hrs
Something went wrong...
5 mins

on the expiry (of)

after - тоже вариант
Something went wrong...
-1
2 hrs

fading away

...

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Note added at 2 hrs (2009-11-01 20:25:35 GMT)
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or descending

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Note added at 2 hrs (2009-11-01 21:00:39 GMT)
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as the first decade decreases

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Note added at 2 hrs (2009-11-01 21:08:49 GMT)
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outgoing, outcoming,
Peer comment(s):
disagree Libero_Lang_Lab : I don't think a decade would fade away, and it certainly wouldn't decrease
17 hrs
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15 hrs

as the first decade of the new century is sliding away

Poeddic, eh?
or "on the break of the second decade" – same difference
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17 hrs

....draws to a close/as the curtain falls...

Perhaps I'm being overly pedantic - habits of a journalist/editor - but I think you need to be careful about mixing metaphors, even in the context of poetic language. I don't think a decade or any other period of time can 'wane'.

Hence, I would opt for: as the first decade of the new century draws to a close....

If you want something more poetic you could go for:

As the curtain falls on the first decade of the new century....

I would opt for a more neutral phrase here. The most obvious one being end/close.
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