?????€?‚???????°: foot wrap, wimp, diatribe
With all the momentous events that have occurred over the past few weeks, it's possible you may have missed the most important news story of the millennium. After 300 years, the Russian army decided to get rid of ?????€?‚???????? (foot wraps).
?????€?‚???????? (?????€?‚???????° in singular) are large rectangles of cloth that are wrapped around the foot in an origami-like way and worn in lieu of socks. A kind of descendant, or second cousin, of ???????‡?° (foot cloth) and ???±?????‚???? (windings) — pieces of cloth wrapped around the foot and leg and worn with traditional peasant ?»?°???‚?? (bast shoes) — ?????€?‚???????? have been worn in the Russian army since the reign of Peter the Great.
Learning how to properly wrap your ?????€?‚???????? was something of a rite of passage in the country's military, and Russian soldiers have had a love-hate relationship with them. On the one hand, ?????€?‚???????? are one-size-fits-all, and properly wrapped ?????€?‚???????? are warm and comfortable. On the other hand, properly wrapping them is an art not easily mastered, and poorly wrapped ?????€?‚???????? give blisters like nothing else on Earth.
And they're ?????????‡???µ (stinky). Although their purported advantage is the ease with which they're washed and dried, no one seems to be rolling up their sleeves over sudsy water. Except the women folk, that is: ?–???»?° ?? ?????¶???????? ?±???»?µ?µ ?‚?€?????†?°?‚?? ?»?µ?‚, ???‚???€?°?»?° ?µ???? ?±?µ?»???‘ ?? ?????????‡???µ ?????€?‚???????? (She lived with her man for over 30 years, washing his underwear and smelly foot wraps).
In prison camps, ?????€?‚???????? were issued to convicts. Writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn has one of his characters say: "???‚?? ?¶?µ ???‹???‡?µ ???‚???€?°?µ?‚ ?????€?‚????????? ???… ???€?????‚?? ?????????‚ ??????, ???µ ???‚???€?°??, ?° ?????‚???? ???‹?±?€?°???‹???°???‚, ???‚ ???°?‡?°?»?????‚???° ???????‹?µ ?????»???‡?°???‚." (Who washes foot wraps these days? You just wear them for a year without washing them, then toss them out and get new ones from the camp directors.)
There is something evocative for Russians about those stinky pieces of cloth, and the word ?????€?‚???????° has a rich second life in the world of Russian slang.
Some of the slang has come and gone. A 15-year-old dictionary lists ?????€?‚???????° as slang for a teabag and a wall newspaper, but I haven't found that usage today — at least among my set.
Other dictionaries cite ?????€?‚???????° in professional argot. For example, among musicians playing wind instruments, ?????€?‚???????° is a loud hoot or honk. In railway worker's slang, it's a long warning with many speed limitations. In the army, it's a blank sheet of paper issued for writing a letter home. Soldiers also use it as ???€???????‡?µ???????µ ???€???¶?µ???????µ ???±?€?°?‰?µ?????µ (a deprecatory but friendly form of address). ???, ?????€?‚???????°! (Hey, butt-wipe!)
In more general slang, ?????€?‚???????° is a spineless worm. ???‹ ?????µ ???€???? ???»?? ?????€?‚???????°? ?????????¶?µ???? ?????µ ???»?? ???µ?‚? (Are you my friend or a wimp? Are you going to help me or not?)
Lately ?????€?‚???????° has been used to describe a long, boring letter, blog post or comment, often a convoluted diatribe filled with dubious statistics and facts. ???? ???°???????°?» ?†?µ?»???? ?????€?‚???????? ?? ?–?– (He posted this really long, boring story on LiveJournal.) ???????? ?·?????€?????µ?????‹?? ???????‚-?????€?‚???????° ?? ?‚?µ???µ ???‚???????µ?????? ???µ ?????µ?µ?‚ (Your humungous diatribe post has nothing to do with the topic.)
?????€?‚???????° can also refer to the poster of boring diatribes. ???µ ???±?€?°?‰?°???‚?µ ?????????°?????? ???° ?????€?‚????????.? ?????? ???µ???‡?°?? ???°?‡?????‚ ?±?€?‹?·???°?‚?? ???»????????. (Don't pay attention to the scribblers. They'll start foaming at the mouth.)
Instead, just tell them to stuff a sock in it.
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.
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