How should I understand and translate "закатить истерику"?

Question

Some time ago, I took a test in which I had to translate some short texts from Russian into English. One of them contained the following sentence:

По приходу домой она закатила истерику.

My solution was this:

Upon arriving home, she had a bout of hysteria.

My translation was marked as wrong, but I'm at a loss as to why. I did research and found many similar sentences on the Internet, but couldn't figure out what's wrong with my translation. For example, I found a news article titled as follows:

Олимпийская чемпионка Каролина Севастьянова призналась, что может закатить истерику даже из-за лайка

This title has exactly the same construction as in the test - "закатить истерику." Eager to figure out the exact meaning, I read the entire article, and here is the relevant part:

— Что бы ты сделала, если бы твой парень писал другим? Очень нужен совет.

— Я не советчик в таких вопросах и мудрого ответа в этом случае вы точно от меня не получите. Я тут из-за лайка могу истерику устроить, а вы про писать другим девушкам. У меня бы без жертв не обошлось.

The girl seems to be admitting to suffering from delusional jealousy, as well as to being psychologically unstable - even a single like added by her boyfriend under a post by another girl may set off a bout of hysteria. My understanding of "закатить истерику" and my translation of that phrase seem to perfectly fit the context in which this expression is used in that article, so I don't see what could be wrong with my translation.

The context in the test was that the woman learned that her husband had lied to her, and rushed home to confront him. I don't see how my translation is inconsistent with this context.

I humbly hope that native speakers can shed some light on this mystery.

Answer 1

I think your translation, a bout of hysteria, is more about an uncontrollable physiological process, whereas the verb закатить speaks to the girl’s motives. So maybe ‘throw a tantrum’ would be better in this context.

Answer 2

I'm not a native English speaker, but from what I've heard, the word “hysteria” in modern English has a lot of unnecessary connotations, especially when applied to women, so perhaps your teacher meant that.

I personally would translate the phrase “закатить истерику” into English as “to throw a tantrum”, and Multitran seems to argee.

Answer 3

Throw a hissy fit is the best translation for a colloquial usage equivalent IMHO.

Answer 4

As the other answers mentioned, the issue here is either your understanding of the Russian word истерика or the English word hysterics.

In English, hysterics is an archaic term for a psychological condition similar to a nervous breakdown, but only applied to women. In the modern times, it's mostly used as an exaggeration to describe a strong reaction such a panic or laughter.

In Russian, on the other hand, истерика is an informal, colloquial term closer in meaning to "throwing a tantrum", "starting an argument", "starting a fight (not a physical fight, but the kind of fight couples have)", "causing a scene", etc., with an emphasis on the fact that such a scene would involve a lot of tears, shouting and possibly irrational behaviour (like throwing dishes), so it would mostly be used for women and children.

Answer 5

Actually the closest I can think of is just "to make a scene" — it's not necessarily hysteria (though it may look like it :), it does not necessarily mean throwing a tantrum — it's just making a scene, which, according to English dictionaries, is "making a public disturbance or excited emotional display".

In fact, we do have in Russian "закатить cцену" as well - which is quite interchangeable with "закатить истерику".

Answer 6

I think the phrase "to cause a scene" works to some extent.

Answer 7

"Threw a tantrum" makes more sense in this context. The definition of "hysteria" is "exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement", which doesn't really fit in this context because the girl is jealous, definitely not excited.

Answer 8

It's an idiom and a translation enemy. The word истерика is historically and morphologically linked to the (fictional) medical condition, but can be translated as hysteria only in context related to mental state of subject. In colloquial speech any phrase which states that someone is in that state , doesn't mean that literally and should be translated with idiom fitting to context. E.g. "throw tantrum", "caused racket", "gone livid", etc.

Answer 9

My 2c: "a bout of hysteria" points to a medical condition, not a scandal. "Tantrum" is kinda childish. I like "scene" more than "scandal". Устроить скандал is close but not quite the same as закатить истерику. Scandal is flavored by broken moral principles (or even law). "Scene" has the right feeling of simply acting out. But "scene" alone is too weak and lacks gender attribute... clearly, this is about a woman. So, the best is "hysterical scene". "Cause" versus "make": cause has some accidental/unintentional connontation. I would go for make. So... here's my version -- Once home, she made a hysterical scene.

Answer 10

After reading all the answers, I think the correct and idiomatic translation would've been that she arrived home and "pitched/had a fit." If I understood everything correctly, your "bout of hysteria" was too clinical in that context. Obviously, the girl arrived home and made a complete spectacle in order to make a point, a premeditated show of jealousy and rage.