lost in translation

[stas]

Some things are very hard to name in English, but very easy in Russian, despite the thing being described being present in both Russian and English-speaking world. Compare:

1. "allocation and usage of budget funds mainly to benefit the people who distribute them and having little to do with the announced goal of the budget"

2. "распил бюджета"

There's the term "pork" but it usually means budget allocation for а narrow purpose, but still benefitting the nominal target.

Comments

[gb0]

Yep, распил is a good one. I'd really love a specific term for something seemingly more legit vs outright misappropriation or embezzlement of public funds by corrupt officials and their accomplices within the contractor community – but alas, I am out of luck :(

[qvb]

Ну так с этим просто - в русском языке есть целый ряд специальных терминов для разных видов воровства. Как у эскимосов есть целый ряд специальных названий для разных видов снега.

[an54444]

+ в точку

[stas]

Yeah, embezzlement is when the public official takes public money and spends it on cocaine and hookers. Raspeel is when he builds a bridge to nowhere, giving the contract to his nephew with an inflated price, and then they both take the money earned that way and spend it on cocaine and hookers. I'm not sure second way is better - at least in the first way public money are not wasted on a useless bridge that will collapse in a couple of years anyway...

[gb0]

Yep, that the thing. There only is an outright embezzlement, and there is a more generic term of misappropriation, illegal use of the property or funds of another person or entity for an unauthorized purpose, particularly by a public official. No good single-word term for an action by a public official authorizing half a billion dollars to pay for a website only capable of servicing 7 or 8 simultaneous users (aka raspeel). There is a good word (kickback) for an alleged process that follows the raspeel whereby the authors of the said website would outright pay cash to the said public official, hire him or her to do lectures at 6-digit figures per hour or sponsor his or her campaign (aka otkat, with zanos being an identical process preceding a raspeel).

I'll try to ask more people about raspeel, though. There's just got to be something.

[eta_ta]

Nothing is new under the sun. I'm sure Americans are familiar with all kinds of thievery, and so have variety of slang terms for it. Or had - see literature on Tammany Hall, f.ex.

[mormish]

Boondoggle.

[stas]

В английском для воровства и т.п. тоже немало - theft, larceny, robbery, misappropriation, stealing, pickpocketing, breaking&entering, embezzlement, fraud, breach of trust, etc. Но вот конкретно распила нет.

[qvb]

Логично.

[stas]

Не, это не совсем то. Boondoggle - это, например, когда жену Обамы назначают на позицию вице-президента по связям с общественностью с зарплатой 300K+. Это может быть компонентом распила (или другой формы сравнительно честной приватизации денег), но это частный случай, распил - более общее понятие.