???????µ?€???‹??: nasty, ill-tempered, foul, filthy, grim
OK, kids! Since you had a day off midweek, you must be well-rested for your Friday pop quiz.
What do these five words have in common: ???????µ?€???‹??, ?????°?€?µ?????‹??, ????????????, ???????????‹?? and ?????????????????‹??? They are all adjectives, all begin with “????,” and all describe something nasty or meager. Are they all related? That was a trick question. Some are, some aren’t. But it does seem that the initial hiss and kick of “????” evoke decidedly yucky associations among Russians.
???????µ?€???‹?? (nasty), which originally meant “unclean,” is the most versatile adjective in the “????-” pack. It can mean gloomy, immoral, mean-tempered or miserable. ???????µ?€???°?? ???????????° is foul weather. But ???????µ?€???‹?? ?°???µ???????‚ is usually a nasty joke or story — the kind that makes you wince, not smile.
If someone is said to have ???????µ?€???‹?? ?…?°?€?°???‚?µ?€, he is ill-tempered and nasty. But if your significant other admits to suffering from ???????µ?€?????µ ???°???‚?€???µ?????µ, it means he’s in the doldrums. If he further admits to committing ???????µ?€???‹?? ???????‚????????, it means he has done something particularly disgraceful and deserves his glum mood.
???????µ?€???? ???°?…???µ?‚ means that something smells bad — filthy, rotten, putrid bad. This phrase can also be used figuratively when describing something suspicious or dubious. ???????µ?€???? ???°?…???µ?‚ ???‚?° ?????‚???€????, ?µ???»?? ?????° ???€?°?????° (That story sounds fishy if it’s true).
?????°?€?µ?????‹?? is related etymologically to ???????µ?€???‹?? and originally referred to excrement. Today, however, it refers to someone who is cheap — which is apparently pretty crappy in the Russian scale of values. ? ?°?· ?? ???µ???µ?»?? ?µ?‘ ?????°?€?µ?????‹?? ?????¶ ???‚???‡???‚?‹???°?µ?‚ ?€???±?»?? ???° ?‰?? (Once a week, her cheapskate husband counts out rubles for cabbage soup).
Since Russians prize generosity, ???????????? (stingy, scant) is also at the bottom of the Russian values scale. Most of the time it is used to describe a stingy person: ???????????? ???»?°?‚???‚ ?????°?¶???‹ (A miser pays twice).
But a miser can be stingy in things other than money. For example, someone can be ???????????? ???° ?????…???°?»?? (begrudging praise) or ???????????? ???° ???»?????° (taciturn; literally, “stingy with words”).
But ???????????? can also be used to describe something that is the result of stinginess, as it were. For example, a short media release might be ???????????µ ???????±?‰?µ?????µ (an uninformative piece).
???????????‹?? describes a pitifully small amount of something. If you have ???????????‹?µ ???€?µ?????‚???° ?????‰?µ???‚???????°??????, you’re living on a shoestring (literally, “meager means of existence”). Your empty purse and ???????????°?? ?????µ?‚?° (poor diet) is a result of the ?????????????µ ?¶?°?»?????°?????µ (pittance) paid to you by your ???????????? ???°?‡?°?»???????? (tightwad boss). And when you ask for the company’s financials, you will probably be given ???????????°?? ?????„???€???°?†???? (scant information).
???????????‹?? can also cross the line from meager to poor and wretched. In the countryside, ?????????????µ ?…???·???????‚???? might be a wretched little farm.
???????????‹?? is often used to describe a paucity of knowledge or intelligence. If someone asks for your expert opinion on a subject you know little about, you can say: ?’???‚ ?? ?????‘ ?????‘ ???‡?µ???? ?????????????µ ?·???°?????µ (That’s the sum total of my extremely limited knowledge).
This might indicate that you lack intellectual breadth, in which case your friend might say about you: ???? ?????????µ?? ???????? (literally, “he is poor in brains”). This has been turned into the word ?????????????????‹??, which describes someone whose knowledge base is narrow. ???? ???µ ???»?????‹??, ???? ???? ?????????????????‹?? (He’s not stupid, but he’s limited.) Which is certainly ?????????°?? ?????…???°?»?° (faint praise).
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of “The Russian Word’s Worth” (Glas), a collection of her columns.