?‘?€?°??: defective product, reject
Welcome back from vacation! A few of you put on some weight, it seems. Nothing like 10 days of nonstop eating and drinking to ruin the waistline. But a few of you look well-rested. Oh right, you were at the dacha with no electricity for two weeks. I also see some bandaged hands. Fireworks are a bit tricky after a liter of vodka, huh?
Well, let’s get down to work, shall we? We’ll start the year with a one-question pop quiz — and no moaning! This is a fun one: What do marriage and defective products have in common?
Oddly enough, they share the same Russian word: ?±?€?°??. But before you race to a divorce lawyer claiming that your sacred bond is a factory reject, you ought to know that the words are etymologically unrelated. Marriage ?±?€?°?? is related to the verb ???·???‚?? (to take, as in “do you take this man … ”), while defective product ?±?€?°?? was borrowed from German.
The German-import ?±?€?°?? also produced ?±?€?°???????°?‚?? (to reject a defective product); ?±?€?°???????°??????‹?? (defective); and ?±?€?°?????????° (the process of rejecting a defective product). ?‘?€?°?????????° is also the general process of sorting and quality control done by the ?±?€?°???????‰???? (quality control inspector), although what could the ?±?€?°???????‰???? find while doing ?±?€?°?????????° other than ?±?€?°???
We all have plenty of occasions to use these words. An Internet site has this lead sentence: ?’?‹ ?????????»?? ?????????????‚?µ?€, ?° ???? ?????°?·?°?»???? ?? ?±?€?°?????? (You bought a computer, and it turned out to have a defect). Another site responds to a query about a skin rash: ?????¶?µ?‚ ?±?‹?‚?? ???°?? ???????‚?°?»???? ???€?µ?? ???»?? ?€???? ???· ?±?€?°???????°???????? ???°?€?‚????? (Maybe your hand cream came from a defective batch?)
All these ?±?€?°??-related words can have colloquial meanings. For example, in the early Soviet period ?±?€?°?????????° and ?±?€?°???????°?????‹?? described someone whose poor health kept them from military service. ?‘?‹?‚?? ?±?€?°???????°?????‹??, ?‚?? ?µ???‚?? ???µ ???€???·????°??????‹?? ?? ?°?€?????? ???? ???????‚?????????? ?·?????€????????, ???‡???‚?°?»?????? ?????·???€???? (Being “defective” — that is, not drafted because of poor health — was considered shameful.)
But ?±?€?°???????°?‚?? isn’t just a matter of picking out bent widgets or weeding out weak conscripts. It can mean vetoing someone or something. In the Soviet era, this was often for political reasons: ?????° ?‚?€?? ?€?°?·?° ???µ?€?µ????µ?»?‹???°?»?° ???‚?°?‚???? ???»?? ???°?·?µ?‚?‹, ?? ?µ?‘ ?‚?€?? ?€?°?·?° ?±?€?°?????????°?»?? (She redid the article for the newspaper three times, and it was rejected three times). Today — what a surprise — it can also be for political reasons: ?”??????°??·?°?????‹?… ?„?°?»???????????? ?? ???????????????‹?… ?»?????‚?°?… ???°??????????????° ???µ??????????, ?? ???????????????? ?????????????? ?±?€?°????????°?»?? ???·-?·?° ?‚?µ?…?????‡?µ???????… ???????±???? (There were few proven fake signatures in Kasyanov’s lists, and so most of the signatures were rejected because of technical errors). But rejection might be for reasons of taste or standards: ???°?‡?°?»???????? ?·?°?±?€?°???????°?» ???°?? ?±???·???µ??-???»?°?? (The boss nixed our business plan).
If your boss nixed your end-of-the-year business plan just before the board of directors considered your promotion, your raise might be rejected by ballot: ?·?°?±?°?»?»???‚???€?????°?‚?? (to vote down). ?—?°?±?°?»?»???‚???€?????°?»?? ?????€???????‡???????? ?‡?µ?»?????µ???°, ?????????€?‚???»?? ?µ???? ?????‘ ?±???????‰?µ?µ (They voted down a decent man and ruined his entire career). Or rejection can come in a different form: ???€?????°?‚???‚?? ???° ?????€?????‹?… (to blackball someone), in which ?????€????????, today most commonly a black horse, referred to the color of the balls: ?’?? ???€?µ???? ???‡?µ?€?µ?????????? ???µ?€?µ???·?±?€?°?????? ?‡?»?µ?????? ???€?µ?·???????????° ?°???°???µ?????? ?µ???? ???€?????°?‚???»?? ???° ?????€?????‹?… (When members of the academy presidium were up for re-election, he was blackballed).
If you are an actor or a public figure, rejection can come in the form of hissing or booing you off the stage or public arena. A sad composer wrote: ?’ ?’?µ???µ ?? ???°?€???¶?µ ?????? ?????µ?€?‚???€?? ?????????°?»?? (In Vienna and Paris, my overture was booed.)
Whether by booing, ballot, ball or boss — rejection is tough. But then ?±?€?°?? of all kinds is tough.
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, whose collection of columns, “The Russian Word’s Worth,” has been published by Glas.
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