???°???±?°: puck
I am always uncomfortable when the Olympics come around. Most Russians like sports. They know sports. They get excited about sports.
But me? I don't watch or play competitive sports. In fact, the only sport I have achieved any competence in is scuba diving, which is as exciting to watch as grass growing and as competitive as a Kumbaya song fest.
But I got hooked on the hockey match between the U.S. and Russian teams last week. Not because of some geopolitical rivalry — half these guys play on the same teams in real life — but because there was what commentators call ?€?°?????°?? ?±???€???±?° (an even match). I got so excited I wanted to talk about the match in Russian, which meant that first I had to learn Russian hockey-speak.
The first thing to know is what the game is called in Russian. If you say ?? ?»???±?»?? ?…???????µ?? (I love hockey), you might be asked: ???°??????? (Which kind?) Your choice is between ?…???????µ?? ???° ?‚?€?°???µ (field hockey, literally "hockey on the grass") and ?…???????µ?? ?? ???°???±???? (ice hockey, literally "hockey with a puck"). If you find that curious — shouldn't we mention ice? — someone will point out: ???????€???±?????‚?µ ???‹???€?°?‚?? c ???°???±???? ???° ?‚?€?°???µ (Try playing with a puck on the grass.)
Next you need to know a couple of words that you will hear the spectators shouting like crazy. One is ???°???±?° (puck). Since to score is ?·?°?±???‚?? ???°???±?? ?? ?????€???‚?° (to hit the puck into the goal) Russian ?±???»?µ?»???‰?????? or ?„?°???°?‚?‹ (fans) chant ???°???±??! ???°???±??! ???°???±??! (Score! Score! Score!) Now it's a kind of generalized chant to spur on the team: Go, team, go!
The other word that you are likely to hear is ???‹?»?? (soap) as in: ?????????? ???° ???‹?»?? (send the ref to the glue factory, literally, turn "the referee into soap"). This means that the referee made a bad call, or more specifically: the call the ref made was stupid, unfair, and corrupt, and if he hadn't made it, our team would have won. At U.S. games, this is usually expressed with expletives or interesting hand gestures.
For the match I watched, I had to learn the terms ?±???»?»???‚?‹ (bullet) and ???µ?€???? ???????»?µ???°?‚?‡?µ???‹?… ?±???»?»???‚???? (game-winning shots or shoot-out). In hockey, if you don't win in the match or overtime, this is where the game ends happily — ???‹?????€?°?‚?? ???? ?±???»?»???‚?°?? (win in the shoot-out) — or sadly — ???€???????€?°?‚?? ???? ?±???»?»???‚?°?? (lose in the shoot-out).
Winning and losing can be expressed variously, from neutral to highly expressive. Neutral: ?’???‚?€?µ?‡?° ?·?°???µ?€?????»?°???? ????? ???‡?µ?‚???? 3:2 ??? ?????»???·?? ?°???µ?€?????°???†?µ?? (The match ended 3:2 in favor of the American team.) ?????µ?€?????°???†?‹ ???‹?????€?°?»?? (The Americans won.) ? ?????????????????µ ?…???????µ?????‚?‹ ?????±?µ?????»?? ?????€???µ?????? (The Russian hockey players defeated Norway.) ???±???€???°?? ?????? ???? ?…???????µ?? ?????µ?€?¶?°?»?° ?????±?µ???? ???°?? ???»?????µ?????µ?? (The U.S. national hockey team won the match with the team from Slovenia). ???±???€???°?? ? ?????????? ???€???????€?°?»?° ???±???€?????? ?????? (The Russian team lost to the U.S. team.)
Moderately triumphant: ???????°?????° ? ?????????? ?±?µ?· ???????±?‹?… ???€???±?»?µ?? ???µ?€?µ?????€?°?»?° ???±???€?????? ???»?????µ?????? (The Russian team had no trouble beating the Slovenian team.) ???±???€???°?? ? ?????????? ???°???µ???»?° ?????€?°?¶?µ?????µ ???????°?????µ ?????€???µ?????? (The Russian team trounced the Norwegian team.)
Triumphant: ?????µ?†???? ?€?°?·???€???????»?° ???»?????µ?????? (Sweden crushed Slovenia.)
Heartbroken: ?????€?°?¶?µ?????µ! ???±???€???°?? ? ?????????? ???‹?±?‹?»?° ???· ?±???€???±?‹ ?·?° ?…???????µ???????µ "?·???»???‚??" (Defeat! The Russian national team was eliminated from the battle for the Olympic gold.)
To that news, we can only quote a famous Russian sports commentator: ???°?????? ?…???????µ?? ???°?? ???µ ?????¶?µ?? (Who needs this kind of hockey!?)
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.