Not a bloody thing.

Translating puns is a most difficult thing, as everybody knows.
“A wife to her husband:
- Mike, go and buy some food. Not a horseradish at home.
He goes to the shop and brings some horseradish.”

It’s a word-for-word translation from Russian, unacceptable.
“horseradish” is a vulgarism which is a euphemism for a taboo word.

Could you please give any ideas for a good translation into English, Spanish and Portugese?

Thanks.

OK. Nobody can. No wonder.
Then, another question – what do people usually say in such a situation (when there’s really nothing to eat at home) ?
Here, I’ve heard sometimes “A mouse died in the fridge” (of hunger).

"The cupboards are bare". It's from an old nursery rhyme --

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To give her poor dog a bone
When she got there
The cupboards were bare
So the poor dog had none.

AC/DC managed to nasty that up with their song "Givin' the dog a bone", as have many others (anyone remember Andrew Dice Clay?), because "bone" has several different sexual connotations, but the cupboard part doesn't.

Such things are called "word play". They exist in any language and to translate them is a thankless task. That is why it is better to read an original book if you know the language it is written in.

"Not a horseradish" in Russian is used to mean "nothing" and applies not only to food and fridge. I think it is similar to English "Sweet FA"

Thanks, Uriel.

TomJimJack, still we have to translate puns sometimes.
A Frenchman did translate the one in question:
- Look, we have not a bloody thing, not even salt.
The man went to the shop and brought some salt.

As to Sweet FA, I do have it in the dictionary:
<standing there doing sweet Fanny Adams>
<We've done sweet FA all day>

I thought it couldn't be applied to food.

To Humble

Yes, "Sweet FA" is an abbreviation for "Sweet Fanny Adams" which is a euphemism for "sweet fucking anything", they all mean "nothing" and can be applied anywhere.

By the way, "sweet Fanny Adams" can be similar to the Russian "not a horseradish" while "sweet fucking anything" can correspond to the Russian "not a prick" which also rude for "nothing".

Basically, here in Britain people don't bother with the "sweet" bit - a simple but very emphatic "F*@k all" will do.....in full, and with no connection with football at all, nor with some bird called Fanny Adams - nothing to do with football normally unless of course the "FA" arises out of a footie situation.....in which case "FAs" are quite profuse and extremely emphatic, along with gazillions of other colourful expletives as has been so very clearly and emotionally and publicly demonstrated in English football today.

And in Britain they also say "bugger all", right?

TomJimJack ,
<can be applied anywhere>
Do you mean you've heard people say
- Let's have a bite.
- We've got sweet FA at home. Go fetch something.
???