Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => Politics => Topic started by: Manedwolf on March 06, 2009, 06:08:44 PM
-
Oh my. Well, there's a facepalm moment. Who is working in the offices, and why does it seem like everyone is reading the manuals while flying the plane?
Overcharge? I guess that might be appropriate, somehow... =)
(Was this supposed to be a spoof on the Staples Easy button, which Russians wouldn't understand anyway?)
Clinton’s ‘Reset’ Joke for Lavrov Lost in Translation
By Viola Gienger
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought to use humor today to improve relations with Russia, only to inadvertently invite her Russian counterpart to get the better of her.
Presenting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a green- wrapped box decorated with a bow and containing a mock “reset” button, Clinton said with a laugh that her “little gift” represents what President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have been saying.
“We want to reset our relationship,” she said before she and Lavrov began closed-door talks in Geneva as the Obama administration seeks to thaw a relationship that had been at its iciest since the Cold War.
Yet a glitch in Clinton’s presentation might have symbolized the frequent disconnects. The word on the button was intended to say “reset” in Russian.
“We worked hard to get the right Russian word,” Clinton told Lavrov. “Do you think we got it?”
“You got it wrong,” Lavrov said as they both laughed. He said the word on the button actually means “overcharge.”
“We won’t let you do that to us,” Clinton said in response, before getting more serious. “We mean it and we look forward to it.”
Lavrov smiled.
“Thank you very much,” he said. “It’s very kind of you.”
Clinton’s staff promised to fix the error on the gift.
The talks marked Clinton’s first extended interaction with Lavrov, who often had tense exchanges with Clinton’s predecessor, Condoleezza Rice. The U.S. administration aims to repair ties so the two governments can work on common issues such as a potential nuclear threat from Iran and the war in Afghanistan -- even while differing on NATO expansion and missile defense in eastern Europe.
Relations grew strained last year after Russia invaded Georgia during a dispute over a pro-Russian enclave.
To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Geneva at vgienger@bloomberg.net.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a.Otvr8wuyJY (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a.Otvr8wuyJY)
-
Our current administration seems to have a very hard time with the concept of giving meaningful or symbolic gifts.
Makes it seem like they are shopping the Taiwanese discount warehouse.
-
Our current administration seems to have a very hard time with the concept of giving meaningful or symbolic gifts.
Makes it seem like they are shopping the Taiwanese discount warehouse.
Aside from the error...it is a gift of state.
Is it really that hard to have an American craftsperson do such a thing in fine hardwoods, with the button of engraved brass in a Federal style?
The error is amusing in a sigh-worthy way, but what on earth has happened to our good taste? :|
-
What the button really really said was "We Capitulate".....
-
but what on earth has happened to our good taste?
Not coincidentally, it disappeared when the singing trout was the #1 Christmas gift.
-
Nevermind the mistranslation. Why on earth are we giving toy giant red buttons to the Russian's? Doesn't that seem to run counter to our own survival?
-
My guess they gave it to some doofus intern that listed 'Russian' as a fluent language on his resume. Time comes to translate "reset" and he runs to Yahoo! Babel Fish (R) translator for the info.
-
My guess they gave it to some doofus intern that listed 'Russian' as a fluent language on his resume. Time comes to translate "reset" and he runs to Yahoo! Babel Fish (R) translator for the info.
I'm struck by how likely this is....
-
It actually says overload.
At least so say the Russian media.
-
What an idiot. :laugh:
-
What an idiot. :laugh:
+1
To think we are going to be viewed has goofs by the rest of the world for the next 4 years.
-
I guarantee that that would NOT have happened with Condi.
-
I guarantee that that would NOT have happened with Condi.
Yes, but:
Condi = Class
Clinton = Crass
It's astonishing what a difference one little letter can make ...
-
Yes, but:
Condi = Class
Clinton = Crass
It's astonishing what a difference one little letter can make ...
True, but I was referring to the fact that Condi's specialty was Russia/Soviet Union and she speaks fluent Russian.
-
I guarantee that that would NOT have happened with Condi.
Right, she would have been off somewhere in Moscow buying shoes. Of course that would be a good thing, because at least she would not have been working. (oh, and please don't misconstrue this to think I am a Hillary fan).
-
You're saying that Rice missed diplomatic meetings, because she was out shopping? ???
-
That was a reference to accusations by the left that Condi bought shoes a lot during her tenure, and for some reason they chastised her especially strongly for going shoe shopping during the Katrina crisis. Now, I have yet to figure out exactly was the Sec of State was supposed to do about Katrina, but that was the left's complaint.
My point is that Condi was not a good Sec of State. Our international relations were at a low point during the Bush years, though so far Obama/Hillary don't seem to be doing too well either.
-
OK. Just checking. I did recall some blather about her shopping habits, but not the details.
-
So, did State use a non-native speaker?
-
Jezz we suck at giving gifts. DVD's to Gordon Brown, a misspelled friggin plastic buttin to the Russians . . .
Who the hell signs off on these as good ideas? I think Obama needs to appoint an offical Gift Zhar to avoid and oversee situations like this in future! :laugh: