"Не до сна"

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

What does that mean exactly? Listening to the song Весенее танго by Sergey and Tatyana Nikitin(a)

Приходит время, с юга птицы прилетают
Снеговые горы тают и не до сна

Wondering if it's a colloquial phrase meaning "not completely," but I find it odd that сон would be here.

Another question regarding a later stanza:

Сколько сердце валидолом не лечи
Всё равно сплошные перебои
Сколько головой об стенку не стучи
Не помогут лучшие врачи

I'm assuming a good translation would be:

No matter how much you treat a heart with validol
You'll still have complete stoppage (<- not the prettiest word choice here, but...)
No matter how much you hit you head on a wall
The best doctors won't/can't help

So the construction "Сколько ... не + imp." means "No matter how much...," correct? Wondering how common this is used in speech as opposed to what I've heard before, something like "Да не важно, сколько ..., все таки не поможет!" Thoughts?

Comments

[mashka27.livejournal.com]

"Не до сна" это значит что спать некогда, очень много дел. Весна пришла, кровь бурлит.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

А, понятно, спасибо ) Я почему-то думал, что фразы "снеговые горы тают" и "не до сна" были связаны. Т.е. "горы не до сна тают". Но теперь стало ясно, спасибо )

[dil.livejournal.com]

Yes, a comma is missed there ;) "Снеговые горы тают, и не до сна" - are independent. The four phrases are combined in a single compound sentence, because the three last ones are related to to the first: "Приходит время" - and happens this, this, and this.

[oryx_and_crake]

Please note that the working language of the community is English, thank you

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Is it possible to have a note in my posts that would allow comments in Russian? I'd like to hear what everyone has to say, even if they don't speak English (and it serves for even more Russian practice as well!)

[alamar.livejournal.com]

сплошные перебои is not complete stoppage

it's more like "[heart] skips beats without end"

перебой means a failure with following restoration of function
сплошные doesn't mean complete, it means unfortunate events following rapidly one after another.

[ingwall.livejournal.com]

Перебои would be arrhythmia.

[dil.livejournal.com]

Or just "troubles", "interruptions", "irregularities".

[ingwall.livejournal.com]

Well, in the context of treating a heart condition, arrhythmia seems to me the most logical translation.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Can you give me other examples where you personally would most commonly use сплошной? Is it just mostly used in the plural?

[alamar.livejournal.com]

"вся их работа ― сплошной обман и надувательство"
"сплошной поток нарядных людей"
singular

"сплошные разочарования"
"сплошные неудачи"
"сплошные неудобства"
plural

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

For "сплошной поток нарядных людей," does using сплошной carry a negative connotation (like you suggested with your definition of "unfortunate events rapidly following one another")? I.e. all these fancy snobs coming in?

I've also heard "одни" kind of used in the same way as the plural, for something negative. Is that correct? E.g. "сплошные разочарования" - "одни разочарования".

[alamar.livejournal.com]

No, in this case "сплошной" doesn't carry negative connotations. I'm not sure if that is the norm or the exception.

"одни" is more prone to having a counterweight: "денег нет, одни долги".

[lion-casserole.livejournal.com]

.
It means : "[ This time ] I ( we, people, etc ) have something that makes in impossible to fall sleep". There is a bunch of similar expressions, e.g. "Отстань, мне не до тебя". However there is also "Мне до лампочки", that actually means "I do not care".

Yep, your assumptions are valid.

"No medication ( i.e. any amount of Menthyl isovalerate -- also known as validolum ) would prevent this irregular heart beating."

No matter on how much you treat a heart with medicines
You'll still having it uncontrolled
No matter on how hard you are banging your head against the walls
The most mercy doctors won't come closer in hopes to help you

BTW, the author of this song ( both lyrics and melody ) is Валерий Миляев : https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%B5%D0%B2,_%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87

[oryx_and_crake]

just wanted to add that it is "сколько... НИ (лечи, стучи etc.)".

I guess this should NOT be corrected

[lion-casserole.livejournal.com]

.
That makes sense, since усилительная частица "ни" связана с союзным словом "сколько", отсутствует отрицание и есть усиление утвердительного значения, however, in the original text this rule is broken by the author:

http://carabin.ru/akk/raznoe/vot_idet_po_svetu.html

Re: I guess this should NOT be corrected

[oryx_and_crake]

1. I don't think the author is entitled to breaking the rules of the Russian grammar even if he wants to.
2. This may not be even the author, just someone who put down the lyrics for this particular website.

Sometimes that im possible

[lion-casserole.livejournal.com]

.
I would not argue, your remark is perfectly right, it should be "ни лечи, ни стучи, не помогут..." however I never saw this lyrics edited and published in the validated form.

I guess that is an excuse for the topic starter, he would not be able to find this text in proper wording, and that could be pretty confusing.

Again, your input is pretty valid, I am not arguing.

Re: Sometimes that im possible

[dil.livejournal.com]

I've found just one grammatically correct version of this lyrics: http://x-minus.org/track/9665/%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B5-%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BE

[obsmirnova.livejournal.com]

We never use "ни" with a verb. "лечи" is a verb. So "не лечи" is right.

[oryx_and_crake]

Excuse me but you are very confused here.
See Rosenthal on the proper usage of "ни":
http://evartist.narod.ru/text1/38.htm
§72, p.5:
В независимых восклицательных и вопросительных предложениях (часто со словами только, уж) пишется отрицательная частица не, а в придаточных предложениях (с уступительным оттенком значения) для усиления утвердительного смысла – частица ни. Ср.: Куда только он не обращался! (общий смысл: «обращался во многие места»). – Куда только он ни обращался, везде встречал равнодушное отношение; Что мать не делала для больного сына! – Чего мать ни делала для больного сына, как ни пыталась помочь ему, но спасти его не смогла.

[obsmirnova.livejournal.com]

ОК.

[dil.livejournal.com]

Yep, but the first link in google http://www.bards.ru/archives/part.php?id=9344 has "не" in both lines. And multiple other ones also have "не" instead of "ни" in one or both.

[vovanium.livejournal.com]

In general "(мне/тебе/ему/ей) не до..." means that somebody have no time for something or somebody. "Не до тебя", "не до учёбы", "не до отдыха" and so on are common.
However "не до сна" is also for insomnia caused by excitement or bothering thought.

[dil.livejournal.com]

Your translation is correct, but the source text is incorrect, it must be "сколько ... ни verb".

"не + verb" is negation: "не лечи" - "don't treat", "не стучи" - "don't hit", "не помогут" - "won't help".

"ни + verb" has the opposite meaning. The action can/could be done [multiple times], or by multiple people, or with multiple things, etc., but it didn't/doesn't/won't work anyhow.