Question

This play has been translated into English from the Russian original. Are there any expressions or ways of speaking that strike you as more Russian than English? For example, would an adult man be addressed by an older man as my darling or my treasure in an English play?

Read through the play carefully, and find expressions that you think are not used in contemporary English, and contrast these with idiomatic modern English expressions that also occur in the play.

Answer 1

Expressions not used in contemporary English are: my angel, my beloved, my beauty (here, these expressions are used for an adult man), ‘all that sort of thing’ (not explaining what it is, just leaving it as it is), and ‘how may you be getting on?’