[identity profile] anglo-don-juan.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] learn_russian
My best friend is a Russian exchange student, and we are going to celebrate her birthday this week. This will be the second birthday she has spent away from home, and I wanted to give her a little taste of it back.

Can anyone please tell me how to write out "Happy Birthday Alesya". I want to write it on her birthday cake, and I don't trust the online translator websites anymore. Oh, and can someone please tell me why she found "Вы приглашены на сторону!" so funny when she got her invitation? That was supposed to say "You are invited to a party!", and that is what the translating site told me...I think they steered me wrong.

Thanks to anyone who can help, I'm new around here but trying to learn some Russian from my best friend. :)

~Naomi

ETA: Thank you everyone for your help! I am going to print out all the comments to show her, because now we can laugh about it together. :)

Date: 2006-08-01 03:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sashka-vyshka.livejournal.com
С днем рождения, Алеся!
About the second part: "You are invited to a party" is translated as "Вы приглашены на вечеринку". The word сторону is wrong (it's translated as "side") and very funny there, because in Russian "сходить на сторону"(to go to a side) means "to cheat on somebody". You invited her to go an cheat instead of inviting to a party :)

Date: 2006-08-01 03:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] platonicus.livejournal.com
Happy birthday Alesya = С ДНЕМ РОЖДЕНИЯ, АЛЕСЯ!


"Вы приглашены на сторону" can mean smth like 'You are invited to get an intrigue"

The right version is "Вас (or тебя) пригласили на вечеринку"

Date: 2006-08-01 03:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nicodimus-canis.livejournal.com
"Happy Birthday Alesya" - "С днём рождения Олеся!"
You are invited to a party! - Вы приглашены на вечеринку!
"На сторону" can mean "be unfaithful" I think this made funny.

Date: 2006-08-01 03:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shoomelka-mysh.livejournal.com
Happy Birthday Alesya = С Днем Рождения, Алеся!

Вы приглашены на сторону! - is really funny, because in Russian it means you're offering this person to cheat on someone, the correct translation is Вы приглашаетесь на вечеринку!.. ;)

Date: 2006-08-01 03:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sashka-vyshka.livejournal.com
Why did you change Alesya to Olesya? There are 2 different names, and if in this case she is Alesya, she can not like this variation of her name, I know at least one Alesya who doesn't like when her name is written Олеся :)

Date: 2006-08-01 03:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nicodimus-canis.livejournal.com
If to be honest, I don't know the name Алеся, so I thought there is a mistake. Maybe you are right.

Date: 2006-08-01 03:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sokol-888.livejournal.com
"Вы приглашены на сторону!" translates as "You are invited to an affair" :)

Date: 2006-08-01 03:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xtradone.livejournal.com
if she is your best friend, wouldn't you more likely say "ты приглашена на вечеринку!" ?
i'm not a native speaker so better check it out with the others... unless you're inviting her and some other people on the same invitation.

Date: 2006-08-01 04:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] suejc3dogs.livejournal.com
Psst. Totally off topic. I wish your icon didn't flash by so quickly. I want to read it! It looks fascinating.

Date: 2006-08-01 04:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_trains__derail/
hahaha i was just thinking the same thing.

Date: 2006-08-02 10:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rrockabye.livejournal.com
you're right.

Date: 2006-08-02 04:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] suejc3dogs.livejournal.com
Thank you very much. It's a wise icon!

Date: 2006-08-03 09:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ekeme-ndiba.livejournal.com
Both names are local forms of Alexandra non-existent in standard Great Russian: Олеся is Ukrainian while Алеся is White Russian.

Date: 2006-08-06 10:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nicodimus-canis.livejournal.com
Thanks! We say: "Век живи - век учись" :))
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