Due to the recent geopolitical confrontation between the Unite States and Russia there have been many unsubstantiated claims about the Russian culture. One of such claims is that the phrase “Win-Win” cannot be translated into the Russian language, implying that a culture with such a mentality must always have only a win or lose outcome; that somehow Russians do not have a notion of mutually beneficial or “win-win” results.
As someone who fluently speaks, reads and writes in both English and Russian, and has translated countless documents, journals and even books from one language to another – I can say with full confidence that this not true. More importantly I can show that the phrase “Win-Win” can be easily translated from English to Russian. However for credibility sake I don’t want you to take my word for it, I want you to see what Google Translate have to say on this subject. See images below:
WIN-WIN: ВЗАИМОВЫГОДНАЯ // Google Translate
WIN-WIN: БЕСПРОИГРЫШНАЯ // Google Translate
As you can see not only it’s doable, but it is possible to translate this phrase in more ways than one. Needless to add that in the above example I translated a two-word phrase into one word. Should I choose to use two, three or even five words to describe in Russian the phrase “Win-Win” it would be even easier to do so, for example“Выигрышная для всех (ситуация)”, and I would still be in the confines of what would constitute a popular phrase rather than a sentence. Now, to those who know Russian and English languages well, may say that the most direct translation of “win win” is “выигрыш выигрыш” which in Russian wouldn't mean anything - and you would be right, however the same, to the letter, rules must then apply to the English phrase. You see, there is a difference between “win win” and “win-win”, the first is just two exact words next to each other, while the second is an actual phrase. Of course when you say it aloud the dash is not pronounced, however in proper English language one is a phrase and the other one is just redundancy. Same with the Russian example above, one version “выигрыш выигрыш” is just two exactly the same words next to each other while the other is an actual saying: “Выигрышная для всех (ситуация)”, “Взаимовыгодная” or “Беспроигрышная”.
I hope this clears up some misconceptions about the Russian language and culture and helps facilitate good relations between the East and the West. Russian and English languages are very unique and I always encourage all Russian speakers to learn English, while English speakers might consider to learn Russian. I think the study of new languages and cultures will help greatly advance our civilizations, that is why I recently took up learning French. Whish me luck!
For research visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Win-win
By Dmitry Tamoikin
CEO of Earth Sphere Development
PS: I invite everyone to have a pragmatic discussion on this subject so we can all learn from one another. You comments are more than welcomed.
Disclaimer: All statements in this report are an opinion. Act at your own risk.
Report by
RAGA News
I hope this clears up some misconceptions about the Russian language and culture and helps facilitate good relations between the East and the West. Russian and English languages are very unique and I always encourage all Russian speakers to learn English, while English speakers might consider to learn Russian. I think the study of new languages and cultures will help greatly advance our civilizations, that is why I recently took up learning French. Whish me luck!
For research visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Win-win
By Dmitry Tamoikin
CEO of Earth Sphere Development
PS: I invite everyone to have a pragmatic discussion on this subject so we can all learn from one another. You comments are more than welcomed.
Disclaimer: All statements in this report are an opinion. Act at your own risk.
Report by
RAGA News
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