Original text - English - She even had us chasing ghosts

Please look at this

CC: irini kafetzou Lein Chantal handyy IanMegill2

Ermmm, while I'm OK with translating it and I don't personally have a problem per se with explaining different phrases and their meaning, is it what this site is here for? And can we be absolutely 100% certain without some further context? I mean I think it must mean what it seems to mean but does it?

irini

This site helps people with translation. I have ordered a one. In the comments I have asked experts to help with the meaning of compounding phrases. If it is a crime, you may just ignore it... And I shall wait for the translation, for which "this site is here for" :/

There is not enough context for this text to be accurately translated, that's what irini said, and I definitely agree with what she said.

There is a rule about context at , that says (in Ukrainian) :

[7] РОЗКРИВАЙТЕ КОНТЕКСТ. Вкажіть контекст у коментарі до похідного тексту. Неоднозначність тексту може привести до видалення запиту.

So there are two solutions :

- Either you provide some more context so that you can have your text translated accurately

- Or you'll have to deal with just the meaning from this text, as there won't be here any translator who'll guess what these "X", "Y" and "Z" are relative to.

Francky5591

X,Y,Z are the names of places, I've simplified them because they are not important. The original text with the context is following:

"A bit of martial judo, turning your own plans against you. Any idea who you have to thank for that?"
"I don't think it's Nondi," Victor said, naming his aunt, Katherine's marshal of the Lyran armies and her regent on Tharkad. "She's old-school Steiner, and this was far too subtle. Jerry and I are putting money on Maria Esteban, commanding general of the Eleventh Arcturan Guards."
Cranston nodded. "She even had us chasing ghosts with false intel that placed her at Triesting, supposedly preparing to move on Loxley and then strike at Coventry."
Phelan smiled with dark humor. "See what happens when you open your military academies to an old enemy?"

I understand everything except the part which I ask to help me with...

CC: Francky5591

Is this text coming from this science fiction booklet "FedCom Civil War"? (There is a game also about this science-fiction issue)

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/FedCom_Civil_War_(sourcebook)

So maybe (but I'm not an English native speaker, and what I'll say is to be confirmed -or infirmed-) by an expert in English) "she had us chasing ghosts..." could mean maria Esteban is some kind of very smart and manipulative person, who volunteerly sent troops on a wrong track (chasing ghosts), for an ulterior purpose. It looks like a chess trick, a subtle maneuver.

I hope this helps, but I couldn't translate into Russian!

Yes, the text is from that book...

As to "chasing ghosts" I think you're right. But what does mean "with false intel that placed her at..." and does the additive sentence "supposedly preparing to move.." concerns to "us" or "she"?

Sorry for having asked this you, I tried to connect with English experts )

I can do the translation into Russian by myself if I understand the meaning of the sentence...

CC: Francky5591

"False intel" may mean she has let people believe she was situated at some place while she was at another place (eg : One can "lodge" me -make an idea about where I'm staying- with my cellphone, but if I leave my cellphone to someone else, people will believe I may stay where the cellphone is and follow this track, while I'll be somewhere else)of course, in such an advanced era like year 3000 and some, this stratagem is supposed to be much more sophisticated than a simple chip, but I hope you still got an idea about what "with false intel that placed her at Triesting" is meaning.

I think the three propositions (where she was placed, where she's moving on, and when she is going to strike) are participating from the whole trick maria Esteban played (or is planning to do) on her ennemies, by using lures. But this is only my opinion, I may be wrong...

Have a nice afternoon!

I like your idea very much! At least, it has logic and makes sense...

Does "with false intel that placed her at Triesting" mean that "she made them believe she's in Triesting when in fact she were not there"?

Thank you very much, you have helped me a lot!

CC: Francky5591

Sorry - late reply...
I think Francky has found the right meaning here

You're welcome ramarren

(Yes, that's it, the "intel" is the chip she used to let people believe...)

I'm glad Lein confirmed what I said

Francky is right - that is what "she had us chasing ghosts" means. My guess is that "false intel" means "false intelligence", with the meaning of "intelligence" as in the "CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)" - "information".

So I would say they went to Triesting, having received misleading information that she was there, but she wasn't.

I am very sorry if I gave the wrong impression! It's just that, in works of literature, words and expressions do not always carry their literal meaning.
I, of course, can add nothing really to what has been already said but just to show that I am not really an ogre I will try to paraphrase the sentence (since my Russian is non-existent)


She even had us going after false leads* giving us false information, according to which she was at X, preparing, according to these leads, to move on Y and the strike at Z

* "chasing ghosts" does carry its real meaning which is going after something intangible. Something that doesn't exist but you believe it's real. So imagine a ghost is real and someone can summon one on will. Now imagine it can be made to look exactly like a real person. That person sends the ghost towards path A. You see it and chase after it. Person is free to go down path B.

Kind of reminds me of the story that Helen of Troy wasn't really in Troy but in Egypt and the one in Troy was fake, made from clouds in her likeness by the gods. The ultimate "chase of ghost(s)"!

Now as for the "false intel that placed her", while Franky may very well be absolutely right (and he gave an excellent example of what it may mean), the passage is more vague: It just says that she made sure they had false information (intelligence) according to which she was where she wasn't. It could be anything from a chip (I love this idea!) to an informant the other side trusted telling them that she was in X.

Don't know if that helps at all.

irini

Thank you very much, you have helped me a lot, this was very wide and wise explanation!

P.S. I did not think you're an ogre, I just thought you're a bit too formal Cucumis, in the most wide sense, is about helping people, and you did it! Thank you once more!

Sorry to be so late, guys...

"She even had us chasing ghosts with false intel that placed her at Triesting, supposedly preparing to move on Loxley and then strike at Coventry."
to me means the following:
She even fooled us into trying to catch her, by creating wrong information that said she was at Triesting, and that she was apparently getting ready to go from there to Loxley, and then carry out her (probably evil) plans at Coventry.
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So we have to add the part "with false intelligence" to the source text here, in order for it to make sense...