# А ну руки убери!



## ChicoAnimado

Hello.

I saw this sentence with a translation "_Get your hands of me!_".

How does the part "_А ну_" works here? what is its use?

Oh and.. what verb is _убери_?

Thanks.


----------



## Sobakus

_А ну_ is a colloquial commanding interjection, the translation goes like "Now you get your hands off of me!"
_Убери_ is _убирать_.


----------



## 過客

Sobakus said:


> _А ну_ is a colloquial commanding interjection


Yes. But I'd say also that without it the phrase would be more commanding, or, rather, more seriously commanding, than it is now. Here the command is split in two, so to say, ("а ну!" may be a command on its own if the context makes its meaning clear) and this way the phrase gets longer, therefore:
a) it's easier to pronounce — we breathe out all the air we have breathed in;
b) it's a bit less serious than "руки убери", either simply more willing to communicate (the exact effect depends on intonation and context).


----------



## Ptak

_А ну_ can be translated as "come on".


----------



## morzh

Ptak said:


> _А ну_ can be translated as "come on".



No it can't.


----------



## Ptak

morzh said:


> No it can't.


Yes it can. 

Why not?
_А ну_ может употребляться как побудительный окрик.

- Давай-ка деньги сюда! А ну! Быстро!


----------



## LilianaB

I agree with Ptak. It has a meaning of _let's go_, _come on_, _fast_, something to that effect. _Come on, let go off me. 


_


----------



## morzh

LilianaB said:


> I agree with Ptak. It has a meaning of _let's go_, _come on_, _fast_, something to that effect. _Come on, let go off me.
> 
> 
> _



No. Not the same.


----------



## Sobakus

I too feel that they're not quite the same. _Come on_ is somewhat imploring, while _а ну_ is, on the contrary, somewhat authoritative.



過客 said:


> Yes. But I'd say also that without it the phrase would be more commanding, or, rather, more seriously commanding, than it is now.


Exactly, because it's a colloquial commanding interjection.


----------



## morzh

Sobakus said:


> I too feel that they're not quite the same. _Come on_ is somewhat imploring, while _а ну_ is, on the contrary, somewhat authoritative.
> 
> 
> Exactly, because it's a colloquial commanding interjection.



So, all colloquial commanding interjections are the same? Strength, usage?


----------



## LilianaB

It is hard to translate this specifically Russian expression into English. I feel, however, that it is close to _come on _in many contexts. In this context it will be closer to _Hey you. Get off me_. _Let go off me_.


----------



## morzh

This is what I mean. It is not the same.


----------



## Angelo di fuoco

Sobakus said:


> _А ну_ is a colloquial commanding interjection, the translation goes like "Now you get your hands off of me!"
> _Убери_ is _убирать_.


Not quite correct: it's _убрать_.
The imperative of _убирать_ is _убира__й_.


----------



## Sobakus

morzh said:


> So, all colloquial commanding interjections are the same? Strength, usage?


That's not what I meant. Can you come up with one that makes an order more explicit than without it?


----------



## morzh

Yes, I can.

"Hey! Keep your hands to yourself!"
"Hey! get your hands off me!"

"Hey!" is way closer to "А ну!", when used as an interjection in front of a command.
"Come on" is similar, but the strength of it is different.

Then again, in this particular phrase it is "Hey!", but in another one it may be something different.


----------



## Sobakus

I'm sorry but if anything, _hey_ makes a command sound more annoyed, it's something I would expect a girl to say. It certainly doesn't sound any more commanding, serious, _категорично_ to me. Maybe _explicit_ was the wrong word though, I guess you can call _hey_ being explicit.


----------



## morzh

Well, how many times have you personally heard someone speak English in these situations?
In US English "hey" Said in a specific way is extremely forceful.


----------



## ChicoAnimado

By the way, the sentence was indeed said by a girl (in response to another girl beating her up). That is, in a girl fight


----------



## morzh

Girl or not,

1)no one said who speaks it, 2) any person can say a forceful phrase, though sometimes the choice of words is gender specific, and 3) the point I am arguing is that "а ну" cannot be universally translated as "come on" as the latter is not forceful enough to be used, for instance, in the sentence in question. Can it be ever translated as "come on"? Sure. Not this time.


----------



## ChicoAnimado

Just to resolve this case - I found the scene, here (0:45). I should warn you all, some explicit verbal content is shown.


----------



## Ptak

morzh said:


> the point I am arguing is that "а ну" cannot be universally translated as "come on"


Oh my God, I never meant that "а ну" can be *universally* translated as "come on". Of course it cannot! I only said that it *can* be translated as "come on" (=in some contexts).


----------



## morzh

ChicoAnimado said:


> Just to resolve this case - I found the scene, here (0:45). I should warn you all, some explicit verbal content is shown.


What does this have to do with everything?


----------



## morzh

Ptak said:


> Oh my God, I never meant that "а ну" can be *universally* translated as "come on". Of course it cannot! I only said that it *can* be translated as "come on" (=in some contexts).


in some, yes. In this - no.


----------



## morzh

Actually, I am confused now, as to what and into what are we translating.


----------



## ChicoAnimado

morzh said:


> What does this have to do with everything?


That's the original part (without the subtitles in Russian). If you listen carefully in 0:45, you will hear "Get your hands of me!".


----------



## morzh

Well, it is at 0:47, said in a sort of anxious, scared a bit, or indignant male voice, and should not be translated with any interjection, but should be simply "не трогайте (трогай) меня!" said in the same voice.


----------



## 過客

Ptak said:


> А ну can be translated as "come on".


I think (and am sure), the «а ну» of this phrase can't be translated as any English interjection (at least, both "hey" and especially "come on" have  little to nothing to do with the phrase). Partly because it doesn't add anything to the factual meaning of the phrase, its use (an important one) is rather to make the phrase longer and thus to soften it, to remove emphasis. To get four words; a two-word phrase (like "без рук!", that expresses roughly the same mood) would be too short and sharp to eye (so it would be turned into "без рук, без рук!", once such variant would be used). I think, the two phrases provided by ChikoAnimado are very good translations for each other; we almost do not notice the "а ну" part, it goes on smooth, while being necessary for good sound of the Russian variant.

Generally, the role of the interjection "ну" is to make the listener know that he should do something, and all, no more basic meanings (well, a few derivative ones). Or, the variant, to remind him about his duty to do or to know something (an example for the latter: «Ну что это такое, ну...» — "what's going on now, ah?.. Mary, Mary, tell me please..."), or it may refer to the speaker itself, to his having to rethink something, or to remember about something (for example, "ну, дорогой!" — "well, then..."). No appeal (as in "hey", or the Russian «эй», «эгей»), no challenge (as in "come on"), nothing. Only annoyance; that's why the verb «понукать» means "to [ask somebody to do something] repeatedly and boringly, annoyingly, saying often the word «ну»". The pronunciation of "ну" may be either sad or energic, it may be very emotional or only a bit. It may be also steady, but mostly in situations when it doesn't add anything at all to the phrase, not even a slightest emotion or message, and thus serves as a filler word.

The interjection "а" stresses the meaning of "ну" (in its «energic» variant), but doesn't change it. For example: «А ну выходи!» (not sure, how to translate; «go out then now!» is one of variants, but not exact maybe; "hey, go out then!" is probably the variant that is used in such situations in the real life, but its meaning differs somehow from the meaning of the Russian sentence).


Sobakus said:


> Exactly, because it's a colloquial commanding interjection.


Or, the other way around, it's colloquial because it's such and such... (it's better to go from details to generalities, if we wish to understand general statements well, I think). But my question is, what do you mean by "colloquial"? Any interjection is colloquial in some sense; and all other Russian interjections are not less colloquial than this one. But yes, "а ну" of course is used only to people you are on close terms with, if this is what you mean.


----------



## Ptak

過客 said:


> А ну can be translated as "come on".
> 
> 
> 
> I think (and am sure), the «а ну» of this phrase can't be translated as any English interjection (at least, both "hey" and especially "come on" have  little to nothing to do with the phrase).
Click to expand...

Please read the message #21 in this thread.


----------



## 過客

Ptak said:


> Please read the message #21 in this thread.


I have. I just didn't understand why this "come on" appeared in this thread (and I don't understand now, to be quite honest), and I wanted to remove possible misinterpretations.  I mean, such translation is not frequent, I'd say it's no worth mentioning... "Hey" is a bit closer in use, but again, its basic meaning is quite different, so...


----------



## NiNulla

過客 said:


> I have. I just didn't understand why this "come on" appeared in this thread (and I don't understand now, to be quite honest), and I wanted to remove possible misinterpretations.  I mean, such translation is not frequent, I'd say it's no worth mentioning... "Hey" is a bit closer in use, but again, its basic meaning is quite different, so...



Maybe because of "А ну-ка, давай-ка, плясать выходи!", "А ну-ка убери свой чемоданчик!", "А ну-ка, девушки!" etc.


----------

