?—?°?‚??: on the other hand, but, however
For years I have been on a personal crusade to nail down the meaning of all Russian's "little words" — all those monosyllabic words like ???° (yes, and), ?‡?‚?? (what, that), ???°?? (how), ?‚?°?? (so), ???? (well) that each have 40 meanings and combine with other little words to give another dozen meanings. Lately I've been working on ?·?°?‚?? (but, however, on the other hand).
For language geeks: ?·?°?‚?? is a conjunction that is used when you want to show juxtaposition or contrast between two parts of a sentence or two statements. For others: it's the "yeah, but" conjunction. That is, you, the speaker, agree with assertion A, but you then point out that assertion B — which might be the opposite of A — is also true.
?—?°?‚?? literally means "for [all] that," which sometimes works as a translation. ???°?€?‚?????° ???»?? ????????-?‚?? ???µ???‚?µ?????‚?µ?»?????°??, ?·?°?‚?? ?‡?µ???‚???°?? (The picture might not be comforting to some people, but for all that, it's honest.)
But most of the time, you need to fiddle with the syntax to get an approximation in English. ?????° ???‡???‚?°?»?°, ?‡?‚?? ?µ???? ???µ???????‚?°?‚???? ?±?‹?»?? ???????‚?????????‚???°????. ?›?µ???????‹??, ?·?°?‚?? ???µ ???°?…?°?»?????‹?? (She thought his character flaws were really virtues. He might be lazy, but he was never obnoxious). ???????‚?? ???€???·???????? ???µ ?‚?°?? ?±?‹???‚?€, ???°?? ?…???‚?µ?»?????? ?±?‹, ???? ?·?°?‚?? ?»???±???? ???€???· ?????µ?·?‘?‚. (All right, the truck doesn't go as fast as I'd want it to, but on the other hand, it can haul any load). ???€?°?????°, ???????? ???‚???°?»?????°?»??????, ???? ?·?°?‚?? ???°?????µ ???????????»?????‚?????µ ?±?‹?»??! (Yeah, our legs were so tired we could barely walk, but man, was it fun!).
I think of ?·?°?‚?? as the "look on the bright side" conjunction. ???‚?????»?? ???‚?? ?‘?»???? ???µ???????° ?????€?????? — ???? 2,000 ?€???±?»?µ??! ???? ?·?°?‚?? ?±?‹?»?? ???????????‚?µ?»?????? ?…???€?????? (The Christmas trees did cost a lot — up to 2,000 rubles! But they really were gorgeous!). ???°???»?? ???µ?????????? ?????€???¶?µ, ?????‚?????? ?‡?‚?? ?…???»???????‹?? ???‚?¶???? ???µ ???°???‹?? ???µ???‘???‹?? ???????????±, ???? ?·?°?‚?? ?????·?????»???µ?‚ ?????…?€?°?????‚?? ?????µ ?????‚?°???????‹! (The oil was a bit more expensive because cold pressing is not a cheap process, but the good thing is that it preserves all the vitamins!)
It's this "silver lining" that is meant in today's widespread ?·?°?‚?? internet meme. This is usually said after you list all the bad consequences of the annexation of Crimea to your friend, and then they counter with ?—?°?‚?? ???€?‹?? — ???°??. (Yeah, I know, but the great thing is: Crimea is ours.)
The other meaning of ?·?°?‚?? is that assertion B is a consequence of assertion A. For example: ?”???????? ???°?? ???°?», ?·?°?‚?? ???????????µ?? (Our cottage might be small, but that makes it peaceful). ???????€?????° ???‡?µ???? ?‰?µ???µ?‚???»?????°, ?·?°?‚?? ?µ?? ???????????µ ???????µ?€?????‚ (Her friend is probably overly scrupulous, but that's why so many people trust her).
?—?°?‚?? should not be confused with ?·?° ?‚??, the preposition ?·?° (for) and the pronoun ?‚?? (that, what). We tend to make phrases using this construction a bit simpler in English. ?? ?·?° ?‚??, ?‡?‚???±?‹ ???€?????µ?€?¶?????°?‚?????? ?????????‚???‚???†????. (I'm for upholding the Constitution.)
In my case, I can use both ?·?°?‚?? and ?·?° ?‚??: ?? ???????°?»?° ?? ?±???»???????†?? ?? ?°?????µ???????†???‚????, ???? ?·?°?‚?? ?±???»?????µ ???µ ???°???? ?±?µ?????????????‚?????? ???± ?°?????µ???????????µ. ?? ?±?»?°???????°?€???° ?·?° ?‚??, ?‡?‚?? ?????‘ ???±?????»?????? ?±?»?°?????????»???‡???? (I ended up in the hospital with appendicitis, but at least I don't have to worry about my appendix anymore. I'm grateful that it all turned out fine).
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.