Derek Offord - Using Russian - A Guide to Contemporary Usage

feasting one’s eyes on sth, including natural

beauty.

мe´лкий

small, fine (of rain, sand); also petty, shallow . The adjective implies that sth is small in all its parts,

small-proportioned; antonym of кру´пный (see

above in this section).

мeщaни´н(person)

petty bourgeois person; petty bourgeois behaviour/

мeщa´нство(the

attitudes . The words are used in a figurative sense

phenomenon)

to evoke sb who is narrow-minded, philistine , or

мeщa´нский(adj)

such behaviour; in Soviet parlance they were

used as pejorative terms to describe a selfish

mindset.

мировоззрe´ниe

view of the world, set of beliefs. The word

implies something more systematic and

coherent than English outlook ; cf. German

Weltanschauung .

нeнaгля´дный

sth which one cannot take one’s eyes off. The

word denotes the quality of an object, admiration

of which one might express with the verb

любовa´ться (see above in this section).

новостро´йкa

newly erected building, building work in a new

town or district. The word brings to mind the

rapid urban development of the post-war Soviet

period.

обывa´тeль(m)

inhabitant, citizen, the average man, the man in the

street ; fig philistine in pre-revolutionary days. In Soviet times the word was used as a synonym of

мeщaни´н, i.e. a narrow-minded person without

social interests; it may now be reverting to its

pre-revolutionary role.

однолю´б

sb who has had only one love in her or his life or

who can love only one person at a time

опохмeли´ться(pf ) to have a drink to cure a hangover, to have a drink the morning after

отхо´дчивый

describes sb who loses her/his temper with sb else

but does not subsequently harbour resentment

towards the person who angered her/him

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3

Problems of meaning: Russian words

очeрeдно´й

next in turn, periodic, recurrent, regular, routine, usual .

The word is derived from о´чeрeдь (f), queue .

по´двиг

heroic deed, feat, act of heroism, sth done for the

general good

по´шлый(adj)

morally low, tasteless, rude, common, banal, vulgar ; an

по´шлость(f )

object or act that can be described in this way.

No single English word has the same field of

meaning although tacky , a recent borrowing from

American English, does convey the same notion

of lack of good taste.

прa´здник

holiday in sense of festival, national holiday, festive occasion, occasion for celebration, red-letter day ;

antonym of бу´дни (see above in this section)

про´воды(pl; gen

send-off , occasion or process of seeing off sb who

про´водов)

is leaving

просто´р

space, spaciousness, expanse, scope, freedom,

elbow-room . The word evokes the wide open

spaces and seeming infinity of the Russian

landscape.

рaздо´льe

synonymous with просто´р

рaзмa´х

scope, range, sweep, scale, span, amplitude . When

applied to character the word may suggest an

expansiveness and generosity that is admired.

рaзру´хa

ruin, collapse, devastation (esp after war, revolution

or some other cataclysmic event)

ровe´сник/

person of the same age

ровe´сницa

родно´й

one’s own (by blood relationship), native , e.g.

родно´й язы´к, native language ; родныé, as

substantivised noun = relations, relatives, kith and

kin ; antonym of чужо´й (see below in this

section). The word has strong positive

connotations.

сaморо´док(adj

a person who possesses natural gifts but lacks a

caморо´дный)

systematic, thorough education; (of metals)

nugget , piece of mined metal in chemically pure

form

свe´рстник/

synonyms of ровe´сник/ровe´сницa, respectively

свe´рстницa

свой

one’s own, my/your/his/her/our/their own ; close in

meaning to родно´й (and therefore also having

positive connotations) and an antonym of чужо´й.

Note: свой чeловe´к = person who is not related

but whom one trusts. See 11.2.6 on use of свой.

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3.7

Russian words difficult to render in English

сглa´зить(pf )

to put the evil eye (on)

сплошно´й

unbroken, continuous, all-round, complete, entire, total ,

e.g. сплошно´й зaбо´р, unbroken fence ; сплошноé

удово´льствиe, complete satisfaction ; сплошнa´я

грa´мотность, one-hundred-percent literacy

срок

period of time, term, deadline

стро´йный

well-proportioned, elegant, shapely, well-balanced,

harmonious, orderly, well put together . The word

evokes sth that is aesthetically pleasing, pleasant

to the eye.

увлeкa´ться/

to be carried away (by), to become keen (on), to be mad

увлe´чься+ instr

(about), to fall for, to become enamoured (of ) . The

word suggests great enthusiasm.

успeвa´ть/успe´ть

to have time (to do sth), to manage (in time), to succeed (in doing sth in time)

хaм/хa´мкa

lout, boor, cow; loutishness, boorishness; loutish,

хa´мство

boorish . Xaм denotes a person who behaves in a

хa´мский

crude, disgusting way and has no respect for

(all pej)

herself/himself or others. (The word is derived

from the name of the biblical character Ham,

who in Genesis 9 saw his father Noah naked and

told his brothers.)

чужо´й

sb else’s, other people’s, not mine/ours; foreign, alien,

strange . The word is an antonym of родно´й and

свой and therefore has negative connotations.

97

4 Problems of translation from English

into Russian

4.1

English words difficult to render in Russian

This section lists in alphabetical order some of the more common

English words which give difficulty for students learning Russian and defines some of the Russian equivalents they may have. The list is

intended to encourage the student to think about the precise meaning of the English word in a given context and to consider which of the