Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2020 April 11

= April 11 =

Gypsy Song in Faces
This is the title of an operetta (Romen Theatre. What does "in Faces" means? Thanks--Pierpao (talk) 09:15, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Russian speaker required, Цыганские песни в лицах is the original title: this page refers. The composer seems to be N. Kulikov, who gets a mention in The Cambridge Companion to Operetta (p. 136). Alansplodge (talk) 11:09, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
 * в лицах means something like in person or personally. there's история в лицах (lit. "history in faces") which is history of something told with a focus on the important people involved. there's also изобразить в лицах (lit. "to illustrate in faces") which means to act something out or to play it through (a story, a situation...) I think the title is a play on one of these two phrases. I think an adequate translation (absent a self-styled one) would be something like "Gypsy songs up close" or maybe "Gypsy songs acted out", depending on what the original intention was (i.e. songs as things that have personalities or an extra vivid rendering) Aecho6Ee (talk) 12:14, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
 * There is also the expression небылица в лицах, literally "fable in faces", meaning "a made-up story", or, less politely, "a lie". So perhaps the sense is "Made-up Gypsy Songs" (I think песни is a plural.) Or you can say рассказ в лицах, "a narrative in faces", which can also have the sense of "acted out", specifically in an overly dramatic way, and not necessarily strictly conforming to the facts. --Lambiam 19:18, 11 April 2020 (UTC)


 * To muddy the waters a little more, our Vera Zorina (singer) article translates (I think) the same operetta as "Gypsy Songs in Characters". Does that make any sense? The same translation also appears in Anastasia Vyaltseva. Alansplodge (talk) 11:14, 12 April 2020 (UTC)
 * It fits with the sense of "acted out". The noun лицо can mean "face", but also "individual". --Lambiam 20:47, 12 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I corrected Romen Theatre. Gypsy song in characters sound better to me. Thanks a lot. You were, as usual very kindly and efficient. I wish you good health. Stay away from Covid, don't underestimate it :). Kind regards--Pierpao (talk) 09:37, 14 April 2020 (UTC)