What is the meaning of this sentence? Если он хоть что-нибудь буркнет, я за себя не ручаюсь. I understand the literal meaning, or as Google Translate or DeepL translates it literally: If he muttered anything, I wouldn't be able to defend myself. However that doesn't really make sense in English. Can someone rephrase this in idiomatic English?
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Normally, this site isn't meant to provide translations, but I'll add one below, which I hope you'll note before your query is taken down.– CocoPopSep 25, 2022 at 2:40
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Could you provide more context?– Sergey SlepovSep 26, 2022 at 14:12
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2 Answers
In the absence of any context, my guess is this means: "If he blurts something out ('spills the beans'), I can't vouch for myself."
Another meaning of бу́ркнуть (impf. бурча́ть) is to grumble or growl, so the sentence might be read as "If he tries to complain / argue with me, I don't know what I might do (to him)."
"Я за себя не ручаюсь" is another idiom which literally means "I can't vouch for myself" and is often used as a threat ('I can't vouch that I won't hurt you') or simply to say "The deal is off", "All bets are off."
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"я за себя не ручаюсь" - это точно не "I would't be able to guarantee what I said" Sep 25, 2022 at 13:45
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@PavelMayorov, ну почему же? "За себя" здесь скорее всего = "за свои слова", ручаться = vouch / guarantee. Sep 26, 2022 at 14:03
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In idiomatic English, that'd be:
If he blabs one word (of this), I won't be responsible for my actions.
