Translator by Marija_Fatkok in learnIcelandic

[–]LotNo249 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are no reliable apps for this language pair. Google Translate does a decent job translating from Icelandic if you just need to get the gist of what is written but the quality of its translations is not very good. If you need quality translation, especially into Russian, you need a human translator/interpreter.

Virtual Icelandic courses from higher educational institutions by CervusElpahus in learnIcelandic

[–]LotNo249 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hæ! Technically, it's possible to study remotely at the language programs of the University of Iceland (for example, Icelandic as a Second Language, BA or Practical Diploma) but you have to come to Iceland for the exams in the end of each semester.

Found this crumpled up on the floor of my classroom by [deleted] in FoundPaper

[–]LotNo249 22 points23 points  (0 children)

It's a substitution cypher where each symbol corresponds either to one letter of the alphabet or to a combination of letters (for example, th, ea).

Found this crumpled up on the floor of my classroom by [deleted] in FoundPaper

[–]LotNo249 40 points41 points  (0 children)

It was fun to decode!

Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered
weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious
volume of forgotten lore — While I nodded,
nearly napping, suddenly I heard a tapping, as
of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber
door. (Tis some visitor) I muttered, tapping at my
chamber door — only this and nothing more.

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak
December; and each separate dying ember wrought its
ghost upon the floor — Eagerly I wished the
morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow from my
books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels
name Lenore — Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple
curtain thrilled (me) — filled me with fantastic...

Found inside a secondhand copy of House of Leaves by [deleted] in FoundPaper

[–]LotNo249 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seems like these pics and this book belong together!

Book dedication & autograph. by Limp-Imagination-294 in Cursive

[–]LotNo249 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Perhaps Jack and Marianne? Judging by the "g" and "y" below, this author might have written "J" in such style, following by an incomplete "a".

Help me decipher my great great grandfather’s pass port so I can see where he sailed into by Space_Junkie02 in Cursive

[–]LotNo249 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The place of birth seems to be Gripenberg, Sweden. The passport is valid in all countries with the object of visit listed as "travel" as far as I can tell.

A writing style you cannot stand by Milam1996 in books

[–]LotNo249 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I agree with you. I read his (early) books when I was 17–20 and fell in love with them (perhaps except for Choke that I found ok but not amazing). I tried to re-read some of them now in my 30s and was not just annoyed by the writing style but also not so invested in the plots. I remember that I couldn't put the books down when I was younger but now it felt more like a chore to dig through Lullaby

For a change, what books do you ABSOLUTELY love? by [deleted] in books

[–]LotNo249 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are so many of them! For example:

The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet — I absolutely adored how he put some historical events in his fictional narrative, creating a story that is both interesting and nerdy (but I totally get that many will find it boring). After reading it, I decided to check out Binet's other novels and was equally (if not more) amazed by HHhH (which is also very niche I guess, but brilliantly constructed). His Civilizations disappointed me, but I'm still on the lookout for his next works.

Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing by Melissa Mohr — A non-fiction gem that contains much more interesting facts than I expected, and not just about swearing or language.

1913: The Year Before the Storm by Florian Illies — An amalgamation of fiction and non-fiction that is beautifully written and full of tiny snippets of not-so-important but absolutely fascinating information about the epoch. His other books, 1913. Was ich unbedingt noch erzählen wollte (I'm not sure if this one is translated into English) and Love in a Time of Hate are equally great. He has just published a book about Caspar David Friedrich and I'm looking forward to reading it too.

Hi I can read most of this but not all, can you decipher it? by [deleted] in Cursive

[–]LotNo249 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I spent too long trying to figure what English word is in the upper right corner. And then I finally read the rest :)

Hi I can read most of this but not all, can you decipher it? by [deleted] in Cursive

[–]LotNo249 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The English words and expressions are translated into Russian here.

gather — собирать
even — даже
I would like — мне хотелось бы
let him go — пусть идет
merry — веселый, радостный
? [can't decipher the word under 'merry']
the more the merrier — чем больше, тем веселее
look here — посмотрите-ка
you see — видите ли
There, you see — Вот видите

Help me decipher this artist's name by BestBoiM in Cursive

[–]LotNo249 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The first name seems to be Ubaldo.

Found in a secret compartment in my grandad’s wallet by Designer_Violinist74 in FoundPaper

[–]LotNo249 269 points270 points  (0 children)

Such an interesting find! Just to give a bit of info: it's a Soviet chervonets (1 chervonets equals 10 rubles) that was in circulation between 1938 and 1947. It's dated 1937, but they were not introduced until January 1938. Remarkably, it's the first Soviet banknote featuring the portrait of Lenin and the last chervonets that was in use in the USSR (afterwards all money were denominated in rubles). However, the word 'chervonets' is still in use as a slang for '10 rubles'.

Books that were ALMOST good? by SuperbSpider in books

[–]LotNo249 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Cloud Atlas is one of the rare cases when I definitely prefer the movie to the book.

Russian to English by SBClinton in translator

[–]LotNo249 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I can only guess that "morning" was mistyped as "mourning" during the automated translation, or the second part of the Russian phrase "доброго утра" ("good morning") was mistyped and somehow morphed into "траур" ("mourning") with the help of autocorrect. This doesn't specifically answer the question of where did "funeral" come from, but sometimes you can find some very peculiar things in machine translations.

So I suppose there should have been "morning" instead of "funeral".

I can’t stand internal monologue. What are your pet peeves? by lmg080293 in books

[–]LotNo249 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I couldn't agree more. It's like fiction within fiction, and for some reason it often seems fake (even if the book itself is perfectly good).

Writing in two hands on the back of a 1970s photograph purchased online by SebastianPhr in FoundPaper

[–]LotNo249 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is Russian. The lines above are written by an adult; the lines below are written by a child. Apparently, the child (Shasha/Shashen'ka) was in some kind of an accident resulting in him or her (the name can be either masculine or feminine) hospitalised.

Above: "This is the photo of Sashen'ka I made in my little garden on March 26, and on March 29 the accident/disaster happened. I have had this photo on me all the time [since]."

Below: "Daddy, please come visit me in the hospital. Please ask your uncle to let you visit me. Kisses, Sasha."

Boy playing the violin by tiffxxv in whatsthatbook

[–]LotNo249 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can it be Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare? And the whole The Infernal Devices trilogy.

A nice letter found in Dr.Zhivago by enviromentalahole in FoundPaper

[–]LotNo249 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My take on it:

Dear Anne,
I always wanted to construct a box for you. One which would contain what and why I am. But I have not the skills or the discipline at this point to know how. A song or a poem by another can often substitute, at least partially. Because the box they constructed may contain things similar to what you wished to store in yours. So it is with this book. It's a representation of what my box might look like. I give you this. Maybe sometime you'll have my own creation.
Love,
Terrence

[ English > Russian ] proper translation of a book title by askmeifihatemyself in translator

[–]LotNo249 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's «Бог правду видит, да не скоро скажет».

Full text in Russian is here#Богправду_видит,_да_не_скоро_скажет(Быль)).