English equivalent of the Russian idiom "притянуть за уши" + opposite of "to abbreviate"

Question

I have encountered a couple of problems regarding the proper translation from the Russian language into English. Here are 2 cases:

There's an idiom that literally translates as "pull the ears" ("притянуть за уши"), which means that you are in a situation where you experience the lack of proofs and instead of accepting the fact that you're wrong, you are trying to find a very shaky, sometimes even illogical argument in order to factitiously prove your 'correctness'.
Is there any proper analog for the opposite action of "to abbreviate" or "to make an abbreviation"? The rough one (that I made up for myself) would be "de-abbreviate". I'm not sure whether you may use it in the context like that:

I have no idea how to decipher the 'IBM' abbreviation, something about machinery and computers

Here you see the word "decipher", which is completely doable and useful in Russian, but when I said that, native English speakers were quite amazed about it.

The opposite of abbreviate is expand... already answered. — Void, May 25 '21 at 06:53
"Expand" is good, but idiomatic phrasing would just be "I have no idea what 'IBM' stands for." — the-baby-is-you, May 25 '21 at 06:55
I am not a native speaker, but @the-baby-is-you 's "I have no idea what 'IBM' stands for." sounds the most natural. — Alex Alex, May 25 '21 at 13:51
In Serbian, we would say "Ne mogu da desifrujem sta znaci IBM." which is literaly translated to English as "I can't decipher the meaning of IBM.", and the Russian version is probably similar, and also probably has to do with OP's original (literal?) translation "decipher". We could also say "Ne mogu da rastumacim sta znaci IBM." ("I can't interpret the meaning of IBM.") or even "Ne mogu da dokucim znacenje reci IBM." ("I can't figure out...") (the last phrase would sound a bit archaic in Serbian, but in a charming, good way). VERY INTERESTING QUESTION! — Alex Alex, May 25 '21 at 13:58
It might be better to split this out into two distinct questions so you can mark two different answers as correct. — Darth Pseudonym, May 25 '21 at 16:21
I'm curious about your use of the word facetious here. To me, facetious means you're joking, everyone is meant to be aware that you're saying something stupid. If you're "pulling the ears", are you making a terrible argument and hoping nobody will notice, or is your audience meant to be in on the joke? — Darth Pseudonym, May 25 '21 at 16:24
Not enough rep to answer, but here is a similar question to q1. Also @Darth Pseudonym, from my brief research "pull the ears" seems to mean "try to force your correctness", as if you're pulling your argument through by the ears, and it seems serious, but I'd be interested to hear from someone who knows the usage better. — TylerW, May 26 '21 at 02:41
I’m voting to close this question because this is about Russian to English translation. — Lambie, May 26 '21 at 15:28
English has a 'pull the wool over someone's eyes' expression, but that conveys deliberate deception rather than refusal to accept being wrong. In the expression, are the ears in question yours, or someone else's - that is, are you trying to convince yourself or somebody else that the fallacy is true? — mcalex, May 27 '21 at 03:00
Lingvo Live has an entry for притянутый за уши, and as a native speaker, I'd say the suggested translation seems to reflect the core idea very well. The example section also offers alternative ways of conveying the same idea in different scenarios, and those don't seem too far-fetched to me either. — Andriy M, May 27 '21 at 13:54
For whatever it's worth… if you're going to manufacture an opposite of the transitive verb abbreviate by adding a prefix, that prefix would be dis-, yielding disabbreviate. It's not exactly a standard word, but it's not unheard-of… try a Web search! ~ In any case, I think the OP might enjoy delving into the Acronym article at Wikipedia (English or Simple English). — jdmc, May 27 '21 at 23:43
@TylerW: I can unprotect this question if you want to answer. It was probably added to protected questions to avoid getting 'spammy' and low quality answers (there are three low quality answers that have been deleted by mods). — Void, Jun 02 '21 at 11:56

score 32 · Answer 1 · answered May 25 '21 at 06:50

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The idiom I would use is ‘grasping at straws’, for which Cambridge English Dictionary gives two definitions:

Grasp at straws:

trying to find some way to succeed when nothing you choose is likely to work:
- We searched all the backup tapes, trying to find the missing files, but we knew we were grasping at straws.
trying to find a reason to feel hopeful in a bad situation:
- I knew my mother was dying, but I was grasping at straws and denying reality.

answered May 25 '21 at 06:50

Void

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Clutching at straws is another version. – Kate Bunting May 25 '21 at 07:15
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As an American, I don't hear clutching at straws frequently. I suspect that it is more common in British usage. – BillThePlatypus May 25 '21 at 15:33
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Other versions include: *grab* at straws and *catch* at straws. – Void May 25 '21 at 15:39
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Considering the botanical use of 'Ears' in the context of Ears of Wheat etc., this may be almost a direct translation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_(botany) – JeffUK May 26 '21 at 05:42
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"grasping at straws" is "хвататься за соломинку", and it is quite different from "притягивать за уши". The phrase "grasping at straws" is about persevering in a seemingly hopeless situation (there is even something noble in it), whereas "притягивать за уши" is somewhere between "talking nonsense" and "falsifying evidence" / "lying through your teeth" (usually without any noble reasons for doing so). Anyway, the question is off-topic here, and it also asks too many things at once. – Andrey Tyukin May 26 '21 at 15:44
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@AndreyTyukin: I'm not saying 'grasp at straws' is the exact equivalent of the Russian idiom. One language doesn't necessarily have to have an exact equivalent for an expression in other languages. And I don't really see how this is an off-topic question, sure it asks too many things at once but that doesn't make it off-topic. – Void May 26 '21 at 20:37
@Void I'm with Andrei Turkin here. 'Grasping at straws' actually has a Russian expression which is a literal translation. We do say so with the exact same meanings you mensioned in the answer. So, thank you for your effort but this translation cannot be used for the phrase mensioned by a topic starter. – Arks May 26 '21 at 22:18
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@Void "Притянуть за уши" ('to pull something holding at its ears") means to make obviously weak arguments, either because of little knowledge of the subject or when trying to make evasive reasoning to make someone beleive in your lies (but miserably failing to make him believe). – Arks May 26 '21 at 22:19

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered May 25 '21 at 22:30

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As you say, притянутый за уши аргумент is an argument that is weak or fallacious. In English you might call it a specious argument, or one that doesn't hold water (i.e. full of holes).

answered May 25 '21 at 22:30

mustaccio

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It never occurred to me that “doesn’t hold water” refers to it being “full of holes.” Hah! I like that, this has improved my appreciation for the English language. – KRyan May 26 '21 at 03:19
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Based on OP's definition, the idiom describes the situation of being wrong, but rather than accepting you are wrong, trying to find specious arguments to support your mistake. This could be an answer for what to call such an argument, but I don't think it is equivalent to the idiom. – ProgrammingLlama May 26 '21 at 07:51
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@Llama I am a native speaker of Russian and understand the meaning of the idiom pretty well, and my answer reflects that understanding. – mustaccio May 26 '21 at 11:46
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@mustaccio OK, I see. I'd suggest that you propose an edit to the question so that the meaning of the idiom is clearer to everyone, as OP's explanation seems different to your understanding. – ProgrammingLlama May 27 '21 at 01:15

RubioRic · Answer 3 · 2021-05-26T15:06:24.253

As suggested by @darth-pseudonym, you should split your question into two different ones: one for the idiom and another one for the IBM "deciphering".

I'm going to answer the second.

According to the Oxford Dictionary

decipher
Convert (a text written in code, or a coded signal) into normal language.

Notice that IBM is not a ciphered, coded or encrypted text. There's no need of a Enygma machine or similar for breaking the code. As pointed by @PhilPerry, it's just an initialism

initialism
An abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately (e.g. BBC).

I think that the most natural and simple way of conveying your desired meaning is using the phrasal verb to stand for

stand for something
Be an abbreviation of or symbol for something.
BBC stands for British Broadcasting Corporation

Check the provided example by the Oxford Dictionary. It's not

BBC expands in British Broadcasting Corporation.

If you search in Google using the following: "ibm initials meaning", the first produced result is precisely

International Business Machines
IBM stands for International Business Machines, a multinational computer and information technology company.

So, I would translate your sentence as

I have no idea what 'IBM' stands for, something about machinery and computers

You don't need to know how to decipher an initialism, because they are not really ciphered, you need to know its meaning, what it stands for.

Actually, "IBM" would be an initialism, not an acronym. It is pronounced as the three letters, and not as a word. "Radar" (RAdio Detection And Ranging) is an example of an acronym, an initialism that could be pronounced as a word. — Phil Perry, May 26 '21 at 14:42
@PhilPerry You're right. I didn't know the term "initialism". I'm going to edit my answer. Thanks. — RubioRic, May 26 '21 at 14:46

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered May 25 '21 at 11:03

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A possible English idiom is to chop logic, which means "to argue, especially in a hairsplitting way" as a verb. You might use it like

Howard, aware that he was losing the argument, was reduced to chopping logic to salvage some of his pride.

answered May 25 '21 at 11:03

stangdon

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score 4 · Answer 5 · answered May 25 '21 at 18:49

you are in a situation where you experience the lack of proofs and instead of accepting the fact that you're wrong, you are trying to find a very shaky, sometimes even illogical argument in order to factitiously prove your 'correctness'.

This can be described as hand-waving — the metaphor is of someone who does a lot of gesturing and emoting in an argument as a distraction from the lack of substance or logic.

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered May 25 '21 at 11:37

In relation to the first facet of your case: Where, in a criminal case, the prosecution does not have reliable and convincing evidence against someone innocent but still advances the case against him, built up on flimsy and tenuous evidence, then the person can be said to have been stitched up.

Greenonline · Answer 7 · 2021-05-28T06:59:27.293

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On shaky ground

I might be on shaky ground here, but I am sure that <enter your favourite conspiracy theory> is true because <enter your favourite outrageous unsubstantiated claims here> are known facts.
Expand

Expanding the abbreviation IBM reveals that it stands for "International Business Machines"

or

Expanding the acronym ASCII reveals that it stands for "American Standard Code for Information Interchange"

However, it is much more natural to just say stands for:

IBM stands for "International Business Machines"

ASCII stands for "American Standard Code for Information Interchange"

_{N.B. I've just realised that RubioRic's answer already covers expand and stands for}

edited May 28 '21 at 06:59

answered May 28 '21 at 06:54

Greenonline

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"Expand" is by no means always unnatural. It is the right word in "go through this document and expand all the abbreviations". But certainly "stands for" is more natural in "I don't know what it stands for" or "it stands for British Broadcasting Corporation". – rjpond May 28 '21 at 07:14

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered May 26 '21 at 13:18

If the russian idiom has the same meaning as Czech "přitažené za uši", I think tall tale has the same meaning:

According to Merriam-Webster:

Definition of tall tale/story

: a story that is very difficult to believe : a greatly exaggerated story

English equivalent of the Russian idiom "притянуть за уши" + opposite of "to abbreviate"

8 Answers8

Grasp at straws: