# Голубчик



## toyka96

Can you translate the expression "Голубчик" as "dear" in this sentence (one boyhood gang caught sight of another on a hill): "И вот один из них, заметив ребят, зловеще ухмыляется: «Ха! Попались, голубчики!»


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## Drink

If it was singular, maybe you could, but many of these English terms of endearment don't work well in the plural, even if used sarcastically like this. Maybe "darlings" or "my darlings", or "my sweetie pies".


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## toyka96

Thanks!


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## Rosett

This is a diminutive from "голуби," which is not nice at all when talking to men. Even within a context, the verbal expression may vary: you can say "kiddies," or "sissies," or even "pigeons," which is always scornful and degrading due its 'bird-like' connotation.


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## igusarov

Rosett said:


> This is a diminutive from "голуби," *which is not nice at all* when talking to men.


My personal experience disagrees most strongly. It may well have been that this word started from "голуби", but then, it definitely doesn't have any derogatory or offensive connotation. In the context of addressing people it means "my dear". First 10 quotes from the Corpus also show endearing (if sometimes sarcastic) meaning.


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## Enquiring Mind

"... my little pretties!"


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## Rosett

igusarov said:


> ... it definitely doesn't have any derogatory or offensive connotation. In the context of addressing people it means "my dear". First 10 quotes from the Corpus also show endearing (if sometimes sarcastic) meaning.


What "dear"? It reads "зловеще" in the OP, calling for a carnage.


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## Drink

Rosett said:


> What "dear"? It reads "зловеще" in the OP, calling for a carnage.



It's supposed to be ironic.


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## igusarov

Rosett said:


> What "dear"? It reads "зловеще" in the OP, calling for a carnage.


Yes! And this threat is conveyed without any explicitly threateting/cursing/offensive word. Context can do this.  _*(...)*

*Mod.: part referring to the deleted post*_


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## toyka96

It seems that "darlings" is the most appropriate so far considering the ominous context.


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## Sobakus

toyka96 said:


> It seems that "darlings" is the most appropriate so far considering the ominous context.


It would sound unusual coming from a teen gang member, having a strong undercurrent of senior-to-minor attitude. I would personally go for *Enquiring Mind*'s suggestion, optionally without the "little" part – for the same reason.


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## Rosett

Sobakus said:


> optionally without the "little" part – for the same reason.


"Pretties" means "красавчики" in the given context, but this would be impossible with street gangs.


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## Enquiring Mind

Hi Rosett, in translation we cannot be guided by primitive dictionary equivalents. We need to show enough culturo-linguistic awareness in both the source and target languages. The phrase is said in a зловеще context. If you look at the picture here of Saddam Hussein (who was also a bit of a gangster himself) drawing a young boy towards him, an AE native speaker has suggested the caption "Come to me, my little pretties...". As a term of endearment being used in a sinister sense, there's no difference between голубчик and красавчик.


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## Rosett

Enquiring Mind said:


> Hi Rosett, in translation we cannot be guided by primitive dictionary equivalents. We need to show enough culturo-linguistic awareness in both the source and target languages. The phrase is said in a зловеще context. If you look at the picture here of Saddam Hussein (who was also a bit of a gangster himself) drawing a young boy towards him, an AE native speaker has suggested the caption "Come to me, my little pretties...". As a term of endearment being used in a sinister sense, there's no difference between голубчик and красавчик.


You are talking about a biased comment posted in "*TOPICS:* Humor"
However, the picture of Saddam with a child itself does not suggest anything "зловещего". Dr. Hannibal would be better off for that.


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## Enquiring Mind

> the picture of Saddam with a child itself does not suggest anything "зловещего"


 Really? Did you notice the comment immediately below the picture: _"I remember this so well. The kid was trembling like a lamb in the presence of a wolf. Oh wait, I guess that's just about exactly what was going on."_

However, the main problem in this thread is that we don't have proper context. We don't know if the poster is translating for an AE or BE audience. We don't know how old these "boys" are. We just know that the speaker has evil intent, but what is going to happen when the two gangs meet - are they just going to have a little fight or are people going to get killed? We don't have a "feel" for the type of register the translator is already using. Without this information, we are shooting in the dark.

Other possibilities here for голубчики: "my beauties", "you so-and-sos", "my lads", "guys" etc. but we don't know how the speaker relates to the boys in the other group in terms of status. 

In my opinion, no male (normally) calls any other male "darling" (certainly not in a context like this), there's no justification for "sissy" (= coward), "kiddies" is contextually impossible (not said by people in the same age range), and "pigeons" is a non-starter.


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## Rosett

Enquiring Mind said:


> there's no justification for "sissy" (= coward)


"Sissies" is insulting, to about the same extent as "голубчики" (therefore, is good to provoke a fight), and, actually, is conveying a sense somewhat close to that of "голубчики."


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## Maroseika

I also cannot understand what insulting is in голубчик, голубчики. Maybe in some quite specific context, but definetely not in the context of the topic phrase.


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## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> I also cannot understand what insulting is in голубчик, голубчики. Maybe in some quite specific context, but definetely not in the context of the topic phrase.


The context is clearly "зловещ".


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