# Keep Calm and Chive On



## LaCxefo

I know this may sound dumb, but I was wondering if anyone goes to www.thechive.com. If you are familiar with the site, how would you best write this in Russian? I know it won't be an exact translation, and I'm sure there is no translation for the English slang verb "to chive" but I am more or less wondering how you would phonetically write "chive" in Cyrillic. This is what I came up with, Sorry if it's no good, I've only been taking Russian for a year. 

сохраняйте спокойствие и чайв на? 

Thanks for the help.


----------



## LaCxefo

Or would I use спокойный?


----------



## Maroseika

LaCxefo said:


> сохраняйте спокойствие


Correct.



LaCxefo said:


> Or would I use спокойный?


Only in the form of the adverb: Спокойно!




> чайв на


I don't know why you need all that, but such combination of transliteration and translation looks wild. For example, камон < "come on" is well known by many people in Russian and is therefore reqognizable in writing.  So you either translate this "chive" completely (whatever it means), or transliterate completely as чайв он, if you are sure your Russian readers will guess what it means.


----------



## LaCxefo

"To chive" is hard to explain, here is the best definition I can give you for the expression "Keep Calm and Chive On":


_KCCO (Keep Calm and Chive On) is really a modern slang expression in the same way 'Hang Loose', 'Be Cool', 'Live and Let Live' were popular in decades past. KCCO is a youthful and modern way way to say 'don't stress too much about life, just enjoy it'.

_The verb "to chive" cannot be found in a dictionary however the expression is very well known internationally with the younger generation. I am attempting to make a poster to replicate this saying but in cyrilic, as even russian speakers familiar with the website will understand mainly due to the very well known logo found on the T-Shirts which are very popular today. But I understand I what you mean about the transliteration. I suppose the last part which has no translation should be phonetic to include the "он" part. Thank you.


----------



## Maroseika

LaCxefo said:


> The verb "to chive" cannot be found in a dictionary


Why? In mine it is translated as to cut smb. with a knife.


> however the expression is very well known internationally with the younger generation. I am attempting to make a poster to replicate this saying but in cyrilic, as even russian speakers familiar with the website will understand mainly due to the very well known logo found on the T-Shirts which are very popular today. But I understand I what you mean about the transliteration. I suppose the last part which has no translation should be phonetic to include the "он" part.



If Russian speakers come to your site, be sure they can read English, as almost all young people here nowadays. So no need to transliterate anything for them, espically what is reckoned to be so well known. 
However if you need good translation, this is a hard task. At least "Сохраняй спокойствие и чайв он" is nothing but nonsense. Looks like you need a young Russian expert here.

By the way I encountered the following translation, sounding good in Russian, althoug don't know to what extent it is correct:
Соблюдай спокойствие и живи в гармонии (Keep calm and live in harmony).


----------



## Sobakus

Actually the original expression most people will recognise is "keep calm and carry on", it was a British war poster I believe. Your version seems to be an invention of this particular website. Furthermore, any language learner will tell you that translating an idiomatic expression literally is a strong no-no. It will bring a condescending smile on the faces of your Russian readers at the very best.


----------



## morbo

I think it just wouldn't be understood if written that way; the expression itself and the web site it's associated with do not belong to that part of Internet lore that Russian audience is acquainted with, and moreover, there's a very popular Russian band called "Чайф", so "чайв на/он" may well be interpreted as an undecipherable reference to that band. The only Russian word I can think of that comes close to meaning what "chive on" means and reminding it phonetically is the word "кайф", which means (depending on the context) "pleasure", "satisfaction". My tentative attempt at expressing what you want to express will be "Не парься и лови от жизни кайф". Though this slangy sentence doesn't have anything to do with the site, it is somewhat close in meaning and even phonetically.


----------



## LaCxefo

This is kind of hard to explain. The site is a picture blog, and the "chive on" expression and picture submissions come from around the world. The shirts are very common in America and extremely hard to get. I am not so much looking for an equivalent saying, but more so a way of putting it in Cyrillic. More for the American fans. The website many times will post pictures of Russia, or submissions of the sometimes crazy things Russian youth do. I am submitting the design to a picture contest for a new T-shirt. What I am going for is a design true to the original logo, which is why I went with the transliteration. "chive" does mean to stab in brittish english, but is not the slang term used by Americans and Canadians. The audience I would be appealing to would be Americans that want the logo in Cyrillic to reflect the pictures posted, and young Russian speakers in America familiar with the shirt and slogan. It is more for fun and comedy than literal meaning.


----------



## morbo

Well, that really changes everything and makes your idea come through, in my opinion.

I like the one with "чайв он" better


----------



## LaCxefo

Thank you very much for the help. Sorry I didn't explain better in the first place. I think it will be a good design, and they may like it.


----------



## igusarov

LaCxefo said:


> The verb "to chive" cannot be found in a dictionary however the expression is very well known internationally with the younger generation. I am attempting to make a poster to replicate this saying but in cyrilic, as even russian speakers familiar with the website will understand mainly due to the very well known logo found on the T-Shirts which are very popular today.


Then you'd better be asking Russian regulars of that web site how would _they_ write this slogan... Sorry, "чайв он" doesn't ring any bell to a man who have never heard of that site. Neither does "чайв на".
I understand that the slogan is using the name of the site as the imperative verb, akin to expressions "live on", "game on", but cannot tell you which verb would sound natural to the regulars...

Wild guess: "Не напрягайтесь, чивьте дальше".


----------



## Sobakus

LaCxefo said:


> This is kind of hard to explain. The site is a picture blog, and the "chive on" expression and picture submissions come from around the world. The shirts are very common in America and extremely hard to get. I am not so much looking for an equivalent saying, but more so a way of putting it in Cyrillic. More for the American fans. The website many times will post pictures of Russia, or submissions of the sometimes crazy things Russian youth do. I am submitting the design to a picture contest for a new T-shirt. What I am going for is a design true to the original logo, which is why I went with the transliteration. "chive" does mean to stab in brittish english, but is not the slang term used by Americans and Canadians. The audience I would be appealing to would be Americans that want the logo in Cyrillic to reflect the pictures posted, and young Russian speakers in America familiar with the shirt and slogan. It is more for fun and comedy than literal meaning.



Your best bet is Cyrillic-styled english text, with reverted R's and so on  The expression only makes sense in English, there's no corresponding idiomtic Russian expression.


----------



## LaCxefo

I agree completely. But as I said, I am not looking for an equivalent expression. I speak 2 other languages, and when something is being said that is native to another language that does not have a translation, usually it is just pronounced the way it originated. As in a "loan word". Spanish does it as well. Hence why when watching the spanish news you will hear them say the name of an American business or a website in english. I know from my short exposure to Russian that there are many loan words that are pronounced the same as english (with a slight accent of course) but are written in Cyrillic. For example:телефон,радио,баскетбол, etc. Even the expression _okay_ is adopted by many countries. Of course if a speaker did not know how to write something in english, but was writting an english word with no translation, they would surly transliterate. The only people that the shirt would be understood by would be people who speak russian and english, most likely living in America, that know of the site. As I said the expression has no translation, and one would still say "Chive On" regardless of the language they are currently speaking. Furthermore, many people in America who ONLY speak english do not know what that expression means, only the relatively small amount of people who frequent that site.


----------



## LilianaB

Hi. Chive itself, as a noun, can be translated as прикол (in slang). As a verb-- perhaps разслабтесь.


----------



## LaCxefo

A perfect example would be my ex girlfriend. She grew up in Moscow and did not learn English until the age of 12 when she moved to the US. If she read the shirt, having a strong English background (English being her primary language now) she would understand the first part to mean _remain calm, or keep calm_ and then would phonetically read the second part, as it obviously has no other meaning. However, because she is familiar with the saying in English, it would make perfect sense. Although it does not sound as good in Russian, because it is not an idiom, she would non the less understand, which is where the comedic value lies. Also the logo above the words is a give away to anyone familiar with the website, even non russian speakers would know exactly what it says.


----------



## LaCxefo

Just an update, I found this site with some equivalents. I am not sure if just saying "keep calm and Carry on" would be a better alternative even though it is not the actual saying that goes on the shirt. 

http://www.edukation.com.ua/Keep_Calm_and_What_Else.html


----------



## Maryram

"Расслабься и получай удовольствие". 
It's not as slangy as "chive on" and obviously does not fit into your design quite well. "Расслабься" is what teenagers will most likely say to each other, meaning "take it easy, keep calm". They won't say "сохраняйте спокойствие" as this is a phrase you use to calm people down in case of an emergency, for example.


----------



## LilianaB

Yes, I agree. This makes the most sense.I don't think it would be understandable, to most people, if you left _chive_ in English, except written in the Cyrillic. It is close to _chill out_, but slightly different. I am sure most Russian speaking people might have problems with it, especially as a part of a Russian slogan.


----------



## Maryram

Absolutely.
Or, if the only thing you want is to use Cyrillic symbols, you can just transcribe/transliterate it all, making it look like "Кип калм энд чайв он". If I were you, I would either translate it all or transliterate it all, the entire phrase, I mean. The combination of translation and transliteration looks and sounds weird.


----------



## LaCxefo

Thank you for the help everyone. I guess transliteration does not work well with Russian as it does in other langueages. I decided to ditch the idea of translating the origional slogan, as an equivilent saying will not work for what I am going for. I decided to just make a shirt that went with the origional saying from england "keep calm and carry on" from the website i posted earlier. They translated it to " Сохраняй спокойствие и продолжай работу!". They said that saying started in one of the world wars. However my next question is; If i were to make a parody of that as they did on the website and say "keep calm and drink vodka" or "beer" what form of "пить" would I use? would I just say: "Сохраняй спокойствие и пить водку"? 

thanks again for the help everyone!


----------



## Maryram

You need "пей водку" or "пей пиво" for beer. 
Of course, it's up to you, but once again, "Сохраняй спокойствие" is way too formal and long. "Не парься" (as morbo said) sounds better and closer to the point.
As for transliteration, it actually works well for people who have some knowledge of English. It will sound like slang, kind of. As with "come on" thing mentioned by Maroseika above.


----------



## Maroseika

LaCxefo said:


> They translated it to " Сохраняй спокойствие и продолжай работу!". They said that saying started in one of the world wars. However my next question is; If i were to make a parody of that ...



No way to make such a parody in Russian, because this expression has never been known here. Nobody will understand the words play in Russian.


----------



## LaCxefo

it is hard for me to belive this cannot be translated. I am getting the translation from a Russian website that translated several of these parodies into Russian. Please visit the web sote below and read the translations: 

http://www.edukation.com.ua/Keep_Calm_and_What_Else.html


----------



## LilianaB

Hy, Lacxefo. What do you personally mean by the whole sentence in English -- if you put into more formal English, not into slang. Maybe then someone can find a very similar slang expression in Russian. _Chive_ can be interpreted in at least in two slightly different ways -- it is a slang expression after all, and your context is not very clear. What do you want to say by this whole expression, in Russian -- there is no need to translate the English slogan word by word.


----------



## Maryram

Hi Lacxefo,


Well, of course, this can be translated. 


The translations at www.edukation.com.ua only show the meaning of the original slogans, they are mostly literal and fail to convey huomor and intention of the original ones. By the way, "carry on" is more than just "продолжай работу" (keep on working). I would suggest something like "живи, как живется" for "carry on".


Actually these slogans need to be transcreated to make them sound both Russian and funny. This will require certain lexical and syntactic transformations that will change the visual appearance of the phrase (the number and length of words).
You can find the examples in the answers above.


Keep calm and chive on - Не парься и лови от жизни кайф OR Расслабься и получай удовольствие 


You can really have plenty of them, each conveying a certain message; there is no one quick and correct answer.


Sorry if I sound confusing


----------



## Maroseika

LaCxefo said:


> it is hard for me to belive this cannot be translated. I am getting the translation from a Russian website that translated several of these parodies into Russian. Please visit the web sote below and read the translations:
> 
> http://www.edukation.com.ua/Keep_Calm_and_What_Else.html



It's not a problem to translate it in any language, the only trouble is its due understanding. In the web site you have courteously linked they spent about one hunderd words to explain the sense of this slogan in Russian. Without such an explanation it is not comprehesible and therefore no parody is possible, most part of Russian natives will understand it literally, without any subtext.

It's like translating and playing on the famous and known by 100% of Russian natives expression "How disgusting is your jelly fish!". Do you know what I mean? KCCO means no more for us, sorry...


----------



## LaCxefo

I understand completely what you are all saying, I do really appreciate the help. I have given up on the idea though. I think I am having a problem explaining my intention. I have stated several times; the slogan was for comedic purposes to be understood only by Russian speakers who also speak English, AND are familiar with the site. in which case a literal translation an transliteration of the word (so that "chive on" is sounded out phonetically) would be what makes it funny. Again, even in America where this is a popular slogan Most Americans would read it and have no idea what it means. there is a very small number of people (relatively) that know of the site, it is popular mainly with the younger generation. My parents for example, (I am 25) who only speak English would read "Keep Calm and Chive On" and have no clue what it means. But if someone my age was familiar with the site, and spoke russian, they would immediately recognize it, and laugh because they would know there is no translation for the word "chive on" but they would sound it out. For instance, if I was speaking russian with my friend, and referred to thechive website, or said "chive on" I would not translate that, I would just say it in English. Another point that must be noted, is that the point of the T-shirts are that they are rare and hard to get, and when you see another person wearing the shirt you tell them "chive on". it is a type of "members only" club if you will. So no one who doesn't frequent the website would understand the meaning if the shirt even in English, hence the comedic value of having it literally in Russian, and sounded out in Cyrillic. Especially since I live in Alaska, and there are many Russian students here, who would more than likely know of the website and the slogan.


----------



## Maroseika

All right, this is is quite clear. But you should decide what exactly you want: "let Russian natives recognize it and laugh" or "to make a parody of that". Making parodies workable in two different language is higher aerobatics of translation. Results will be different.
If you still want reflect the history of the English expression, I'd suggest:
Сохраняйте спокойствие и продолжайте оттягиваться (Keep calm and keep making merry).


----------



## LilianaB

You could just transliterate it  -- if it is an elite sort of thing. Would you describe your understanding or _chive_ almost like _chill_ or more like_ pretend and play_. I am more used to the second meaning.


----------



## White Russian

Ok so im a few years late to this thread , but who cares... Like most things are never perfectly translated, but here is my version. Keep calm and Chive On -- сохраняй спокойствие и продолжай кайфовать


----------

