ProZ.com translation contests »
1st Annual ProZ.com Translation Contest: "Awakening" » English to Polish

Competition in this pair is now closed.

Source text in English

Heathrow Airport is one of the few places in England you can be sure of seeing a gun. These guns are carried by policemen in short-sleeved shirts and black flak-jackets, alert for terrorists about to blow up Tie-Rack. They are unlikely to confront me directly, but if they do I shall tell them the truth. I shall state my business. I’m planning to stop at Heathrow Airport until I see someone I know. (...)

Astonishingly, I wait for thirty-nine minutes and don’t see one person I know. Not one, and no-one knows me. I’m as anonymous as the drivers with their universal name-cards (some surnames I know), except the drivers are better dressed. Since the kids, whatever I wear looks like pyjamas. Coats, shirts, T-shirts, jeans, suits; like slept-in pyjamas. (...)

I hear myself thinking about all the people I know who have let me down by not leaving early on a Tuesday morning for glamorous European destinations. My former colleagues from the insurance office must still be stuck at their desks, like I always said they would be, when I was stuck there too, wasting my time and unable to settle while Ally moved steadily onward, getting her PhD and her first research fellowship at Reading University, her first promotion.

Our more recent grown-up friends, who have serious jobs and who therefore I half expect to be seeing any moment now, tell me that home-making is a perfectly decent occupation for a man, courageous even, yes, manly to stay at home with the kids. These friends of ours are primarily Ally’s friends. I don’t seem to know anyone anymore, and away from the children and the overhead planes, hearing myself think, I hear the thoughts of a whinger. This is not what I had been hoping to hear.

I start crying, not grimacing or sobbing, just big silent tears rolling down my cheeks. I don’t want anyone I know to see me crying, because I’m not the kind of person who cracks up at Heathrow airport some nothing Tuesday morning. I manage our house impeccably, like a business. It’s a serious job. I have spreadsheets to monitor the hoover-bag situation and colour-coded print-outs about the ethical consequences of nappies. I am not myself this morning. I don’t know who I am.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 18 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 5 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (18 total; 5 finalists) Expand all entries

Entry #6983
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
7013 x47 x24 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.872.62 (21 ratings)3.12 (17 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 6 users entered 13 "like" tags
  • 13 users agreed with "likes" (20 total agrees)
w którym z pewnością można ujrzeć broń
Flows well
Pawel Besser (X)
+2
Noszą ją
Flows well
Pawel Besser (X)
+4
Wyłożę karty na stół
Good term selection
Krzysztof Raczkowiak
Nawet jednej, mnie też nikt nie zna.
Flows well
Allda
+7
1
Odkąd mamy dzieci
Other
Well trans​lated tric​ky item
Tomasz Kościuczuk
+3
wymiętolone piżamy
Good term selection
Szymon Metkowski
Słyszę swoje myśli
Good term selection
Allda
doktoryzując się, biorąc udział w
Other
bardzo pas​uje tu wła​śnie forma​ imiesłowo​wa
Allda
niedawno poznani, dorośli znajomi
Good term selection
Allda
+3
Ci nasi przyjaciele są głównie przyjaciółmi Ally.
Flows well
well-balan​ced emphas​is
Pawel Besser (X)
Ja już właściwie nikogo nie znam
Flows well
Flows well
eva_anita
+1
Nie to miałem nadzieję usłyszeć.
Flows well
Pawel Besser (X)
wykrzywiać się
Good term selection
Allda
Entry #6766
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
5011 x42 x22 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.093.17 (18 ratings)3.00 (16 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 5 users entered 11 "like" tags
  • 13 users agreed with "likes" (24 total agrees)
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
Powiem, po co tu jestem.
Good term selection
Allda
+7
Nie znam tu nikogo i nikt nie zna mnie.
Flows well
good sente​nce struct​ure
Barbara Gadomska
+1
Nie znam tu nikogo i nikt nie zna mnie.
Flows well
Pawel Besser (X)
+5
Dzieci sprawiły,
Good term selection
good solut​ion to a t​ricky phra​se
Barbara Gadomska
+3
istnieją pewne szanse, że ich tu dzisiaj spotkam
Other
good under​standing o​f a tricky​ phrase
Barbara Gadomska
+3
to w zasadzie znajomi Ally
Flows well
Pawel Besser (X)
przelatujących nad głową samolotów
Good term selection
Allda
+2
utyskiwania tetryka
Flows well
great comb​ination
itbc
siadają nerwy
Good term selection
eva_anita
+1
Dziś rano nie jestem sobą. Dziś rano nie wiem, kim jestem.
Flows well
Pawel Besser (X)
-2
+2
1
Dziś rano nie wiem, kim jestem
Flows well
I like the​ repetitio​n
Barbara Gadomska
Entry #7030
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
489 x45 x22 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.762.75 (20 ratings)2.76 (17 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 4 "like" tags
  • 4 users agreed with "likes" (4 total agrees)
+2
1
gdzie widok broni nie jest czymś niezwykłym
Flows well
Pawel Besser (X)
butiku z krawatami.
Good term selection
eva_anita
Powiem, co mam do załatwienia
Flows well
eva_anita
+2
nijakie
Good term selection
Allda
Entry #7352
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
316 x43 x21 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.743.00 (19 ratings)2.47 (17 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 4 users entered 6 "like" tags
Zdradzę mu cel swojej misji.
Good term selection
eva_anita
takie, ba, męskie
Good term selection
I like 'ba​"
Allda
Ci nasi znajomi to głównie znajomi Ally.
Flows well
Lepiej niż​ #1,#3,#5 ​(tożsame z​ #2)
tebama
Ja sam nie mam już chyba żadnych znajomych, a kiedy – poza dziećmi i lądującymi samolotami – uda mi się jeszcze usłyszeć własne myśli, to są to myśli kłębiące się w głowie starego marudy.
Flows well
Pawel Besser (X)
byle wtorkowy
Flows well
eva_anita
Dom prowadzę bez zarzutu
Good term selection
Allda
Entry #7846
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
294 x44 x25 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.752.85 (20 ratings)2.65 (17 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 5 users agreed with "likes" (6 total agrees)
+5
1
sklepu z krawatami
Good term selection
zastąpieni​e nazwy wł​asnej skle​pu
Allda
+1
Sporządzam zestawienia
Good term selection
Pawel Besser (X)