Очень трудный текст!

- Come eat your porridge.
- Weren't you making a soup?
- Who cares what I was making?

Александр, лично мне нравится Ваш вариант перевода! Если он будет размещён в окне: "добавить перевод", то я с удовольствием поставлю лайк.

Только в последнем предложении, наверное, нужно поставить точку.

Александр, Вы молодец, лайк! 🌹

If I’m not mistaken, мало ли что я варила would be said if, for example, this person burnt the soup. In other words, the other person is right in saying that she was in fact making soup, but she is deflecting from the soup — possibly because she’s embarrassed, etc. Is this accurate?

Uly, you’re absolutely right! The only situation I’d say this would be if I burned or somehow spoiled the soup OR I for some reason I didn’t want this person to eat the soup.

Thank you, Holy, that's what I thought. In other words, the speaker is deflecting from the soup for whatever reason. Given that context, I have to disagree with WHO CARES because it just doesn't say anything.

👍

Also, I think WHO CARES is unnecessarily snippy.

Уважаемый Uly! Русский текст - анекдот, и Александру удалось сохранить изюминку и в английском тексте! Уж Вы извините меня, пожалуйста.

Интересно, как это тебе стало понятно с твоим уровнем английского 🤨

By the way, why "porridge"? Living 20 years in the USA I've never heard/encountered the word "porridge". It's always ''cereal''.

Cereal to me is dry chips of wheat or corn that you pour milk and sugar over and eat cold. I thought kasha was a boiled down porridge, no?

yes, correct. I just never heard someone making porridge in the US ))

Yeah, we normally eat oatmeal and grits in the US.

https://voca.ro/1aMHDtkf5ZaA

Also, I think WHO CARES is unnecessarily snippy.

https://www.lingvolive.com/ru-ru/community/posts/54302

yes, correct. I just never heard someone making porridge in the US ))

Teach them))

Yeah, we normally eat oatmeal and grits in the US.

What about "рисовая каша"?)

Valery, in the example you posted from HolyMoly, WHO CARES works because there’s no context. Here, we have the context of a soup vs porridge.

Here, we have the context of a soup vs porridge.

I didn't get the reasoning

Here we know that the woman started making a soup and then switched lanes and decided to serve porridge. So we can deduce WHY she’s saying this > we have a context. In the other one, we don’t.

А ларчик то просто открывается!
Женщина варит суп, но заговорилась по телефону, вода выкипела и получилась каша.
Пойдём спать, дорогой! Я вот стакан самогоночки тяпнула и ... так на душе хорошо стало!

Thank you! You just confirmed what I was thinking. My translation works in that joke — you just have to stress the word WAS.

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

So we can deduce WHY she’s saying this > we have a context.

In both examples 'мало ли' means 'it doesn't matter/nobody cares what...'

You seem to ignore my explanations and see what you want to see. You’re entitled to your interpretation if you believe your English is at a level where you can trust it. Otherwise you can take or leave my explanation. The choice is yours.

In other words, it means “it doesn’t matter“ and “nobody cares“ everywhere in Runglish. But in English, there are nuances that other users may be interested in.

Here we know that the woman started making a soup and then switched lanes and decided to serve porridge.

But she DIDN'T, it came naturally/on its own)

Come eat your porridge!–I thought it was soup you were cooking.–Who really cares now what it was.

Not bad. Only: making, not cooking.