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"паровоз вперед лети"
доклиническая оценка

Glossary entry

Russian term or phrase:

подставить под удар

English translation:

to set up your own front company / to stage a set-up of your own front company

Added to glossary by Lina Episheva
Aug 19, 2009 12:39
14 yrs ago
Russian term

подставить под удар

Russian to English Law/Patents Law (general)
Термин «подставная компания» является жаргоном. Слово «подставная» надо понимать, как «поставленный вместо себя». Словари определяют «подставная» как «мнимая», «фиктивная». Слово «подставная» в русском языке имеет негативную окраску. Недаром в бытовой речи слово «подставить» означает «подвести». Есть даже такое выражение «подставить под удар», то есть создать для подставного лица затруднительную (или даже неприятную) ситуацию.

I can't think of a good rendering. Are there any idioms in English with the word "front" that have the same meaning? Thanks in advance

"Front company" is a slang term. The word "front" means "used as one's front". Dictionaries define "front" as "sham", "fictitious". The word "front" has a negative connotation in Russian. It is not for nothing that the everyday meaning of this word is "to let somebody down". There is also an expression "---------------", i.e. to put a front party in a difficult (or even disadvantageous) position.
Proposed translations (English)
3 to set up your own front company / to stage a set-up of your own front company
3 +3 dummy
4 endanger
4 let some one take the heat
3 subject to abuse
3 to put someone in the front line
1 expose

Discussion

Rachel Douglas Aug 20, 2009:
2L.E.E. and Aleksey Perhaps part of the problem was that it was not at all obvious, that the paragraph you typed in Russian and English, in the question, was your "context", i.e., the paragraph you were translating! I only understood that on about the 3rd or 4th reading, having at first thought it was an explanation.

I really don't like "set up your own front company", even if you used it. The reason I wanted to add "stage", is that "set up your own front company", as such, is heard as "создать". If that paragraph is really what you were translating, it's quite complicated, because I think different English terms are appropriate to use for different forms of "подставить". I'll take a stab at the whole paragraph, and will put it as a "note" under my entry.
Aleksey Chervinskiy Aug 20, 2009:
You did not waste my time I like searching for answers and appreciate the opportunity. At the same time, the more context translates into better and pertinent answers, hence less time for you to analyze them.
Lina Episheva (asker) Aug 20, 2009:
btw, I liked your answer, too. But it came late so I did not consider it. I used Rachel's version in my translation, and it was fair to give my points to it. Sorry for taking your time.
Lina Episheva (asker) Aug 20, 2009:
but I did provide context with my translation! It'r strange that you haven't seen it. There was no more context
Aleksey Chervinskiy Aug 20, 2009:
No offense, but If you provide context you get more specific and better answers and save every one time and effort.
Lina Episheva (asker) Aug 20, 2009:
I think I did not make myself clear enough, it's my fault. I did not mean that it should be necessarily a phrase with the word “front”. I just wondered if there were any similar expressions with “front”, but if there were not, other idioms and expressions would do. The only options that I found in multitran were “subject to abuse”, “jeopardize”, “expose to a risk” which did not fit into my context. I considered front line before posting this question like “send someone to the front line” or “put someone in the front line”, but I think it has a somewhat different meaning «послать на передовую». Set up your front is exactly what I need. Thank you all very much for your help.
Judith Hehir Aug 19, 2009:
Best bet, L.E.E., is what you offered above (I think). That way you are incorporating "front" without stretching the English. We use "fronter" in American Enlgish slang to refer to one who is guilty of fronting, but I don't think that will fly here.
AlisaIWW Aug 19, 2009:
Dummy (suggested by Danya) is good. You could then use it in the sense of the dummies used in controlled car crashes.
IronDog Aug 19, 2009:
The word "front" has a negative connotation in Russian. -- this sentence alone shows the limitations of your present approach. If you are talking explicitly about words and meanings of the Russian language, just use the original words. I see no other solution.
Piotrnikitin Aug 19, 2009:
I do not think this is even translatable You cannot translate idioms literally, any English idioms will use different language. I am at a loss as to how you could translate it, even descriptively .... :(
AlisaIWW Aug 19, 2009:
You would have to have the word 'front' (or a suitable substitute) in one of its forms in the idiom you are looking for. Unfortunately, I can't think of any such idiom...
danya Aug 19, 2009:
"подставная" и "подставить под удар" - по крайней мере, в синхроническом срезе - не связаны
Tevah_Trans Aug 19, 2009:
Decoy I think this term describes what you are asking. Maybe.

Proposed translations

1 hr
Selected

to set up your own front company / to stage a set-up of your own front company

This is a secondary meaning of "to set up" - not "создать", but exactly what you are describing. Somebody, following a friend's advice, gets arrested, and complains, "You set me up!"

You could write, "There is EVEN an expression 'to stage a set-up of your own front" (company or man), with the admittedly cumbersome "to stage" being added to avoid misunderstanding of "set up." Or, use both! - "to set up the front you set up", but I wouldn't seriously do that.

By the way, if your translation is of that whole paragraph, write "Accordingly" instead of "It's not for nothing..."


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day10 hrs (2009-08-20 23:24:12 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Attempt at the whole paragraph:

The term "podstavnaya kompaniya", meaning "front company" or "shell," is slang. The word "podstavnaya" means "put forward instead of oneself." Dictionaries define "podstavnaya" as "imaginary" or "fictitious." In Russian, this word has a strongly negative connotation. Accordingly, in colloquial converwation, "podstavit" expresses betrayal. There is even an expression "podstavit pod udar," which means "to set somebody up for a fall," i.e., to creation conditions in which somebody is subjected to a difficult situation, or even a really horrible one.

... In other words, when I really think through your paragraph, it's clear that staging a set-up for a front company is not the point at all! "Подставить под удар" means to set _anybody_ up. It coincides with the words used for front companies, because there are similar elements of staging and manipulation involved.

Sorry for sending you in the wrong direction. I was confused by the fact that, in your question, you said you were looking for something with the word "front." But, if we think about the sense of "подставить под удар" in Russian, it will be best expressed in English without "front."
Note from asker:
Thank you, Rachel. I've corrected my translation. Anyway, yours was the best answer. As I said, I was not happy about using jeopardize or subject to abuse in my translation. It was my fault, I was typing in haste, and I should've articulated my question a little more clearly.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks, Rachel. I wrote “set up your own front”, i.e. put your front in a difficult position. No need to use stage. I think it is clear from the context. "
11 mins

endanger

/
Something went wrong...
+3
15 mins

dummy

dummy company - that's I think what you are looking for
Note from asker:
dummy company is just another way of saying front company but the term that I was looking for was “подставить под удар”
Peer comment(s):
agree AlisaIWW : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_corporation
36 mins
спасибо
agree axpamen : и предложение "It is not for nothing that the everyday meaning of this word is "to let somebody down"" лучше вообще убрать.
1 hr
спасибо
agree JangF
10 days
Something went wrong...
3 mins

subject to abuse



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 мин (2009-08-19 13:01:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

to expose to danger / to peril
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

to put someone in the front line

That's the best I can think of with "front". Other phrases like "set s/o up as a stooge" come to mind, but they don't really help here.
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

let some one take the heat

I think you are over-analyzing the word подставить in this case.

In my opinion, you do not really need that in the translation, unless you have a specific context that would require that, in which case you may wanna share it with us.
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16 hrs

expose

///
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