?????‚??: road, rails, path, way, route
It's a road! It's a path! No, it's super word: ?????‚??!
OK, so I exaggerate. But ?????‚?? is one of those wonderful Russian nouns that requires a dozen English words to translate and ranges in meaning from the very concrete to the broadly metaphorical.
At the concrete end of things, ?????‚?? is a road: ?????‚?? ?????‘?‚ ???????»?? ?€?µ???? ?? ?·?°?‚?µ?? ?????µ?€?… ?? ?????€?‹ (The road goes along the river and then up into the mountains).
And it can mean the railroad used by trams or trains: ???µ?€?µ?…???????‚?? ?‚?€?°?????°?????‹?µ ?????‚?? ???°?¶?µ ?? ?€?°?·?€?µ???‘???????? ???µ???‚?µ — ?????°?????? (It's dangerous to cross the tram tracks even on the designated crosswalks.)
Or it's any kind of route, path or way, like ???µ?»???????‹?? ?????‚?? (silk route).
?????‚?? is also a kind of stand-in for a voyage, so when someone is heading off somewhere, you can wish him ???‡?°???‚?»?????????? ?????‚?? (have a good trip), or the slightly old-fashioned ?? ?????±?€?‹?? ?????‚??! (happy trails!)
On the metaphorical end of things, ?????‚?? is a path in life or a way of doing something. ???? ???€?????‘?» ?????‚?? ???‚ ???€?????‚?????? ?????»???°?‚?° ???? ???µ???µ?€?°?»?° (He worked his way up from a simple soldier to a general).
Russians love to talk about ?????‚?? ?€?µ???µ?????? ???€???±?»?µ?? (literally "ways of solving problems"), which in English are often rendered much more laconically. ?“?»???±?°?»?????‹?µ ???€???±?»?µ???‹ ???????€?µ???µ?????????‚?? ?? ?????‚?? ???… ?€?µ???µ?????? might be rendered: Today's Global Problems and Possible Solutions.
There are lots of ?????‚?? expressions and idioms, like ???°?? ???µ ???? ?????‚??, which means "we're not going the same way," either literally or figuratively. In a car it means "I'm not going that way." In a divorce court, it means: "It's time to split up." `
When you run into a friend unexpectedly on the street, you might exclaim: ???°???????? ?????‚??????! (What are you doing here!)
If you're in business and your strongest competitor in widget production has just gone bankrupt, you can rub your hands together and shout: ?????‚?? ???????±?????µ??! (Smooth sailing ahead; literally "the path is free").
When you've either messed up or taken a career detour, you can say: ???????‘?» ?? ?????‚?? (I got side-tracked, I went off base).
But if you are moving in the right direction, you can announce: ?? ???° ?????‚?? (I'm on my way!).
?????‚?? is used in the instrumental case ?????‚?‘?? to describe the way something is done: ???‹ ?€?µ?????»?? ???€???±?»?µ???? ?»?µ???°?»?????‹??/?????€???‹?? ?????‚?‘?? (We resolved the problem legally/peacefully). ?’???‘ ?????‚?‘?? is a nice philosophy of life.
It can mean doing things properly, the way they should be done: ???‹ ?? ???µ???µ???‚???? ?€?µ?????»?? ???µ???‡?°?‚??????. ?’???‘ ?????‚?‘??! (My fiancee and I have decided to have a church wedding ?€” do it up right.)
Or it can just be a slangy way of saying that things are going great: ???°?? ???µ?»?°? ?’???‘ ?????‚?‘??! (How are things? Fabulous!)
?????‚?µ?????? is the adjective from ?????‚?? and refers to anything related to a trip or road, like ?????‚?µ???‹?µ ?€?°???…?????‹ (travel expenses). The variant ?????‚?‘???‹?? is slang for something cool or fabulous, like ?????‚?‘???‹?? ???°?€?µ???? (cool guy). The negative form, ???µ?????‚?‘???‹??, is said of someone who is a goof-off or screw-up. ???µ ?·???°??, ?‡?‚?? ???µ?»?°?‚?? ?€” ?????‡?? ???‹?…???????‚ ?·?°?????¶ ?·?° ?‚?°???????? ???µ?????‚?‘???????? ???°?€????! (I don't know what to do ?€” my daughter is engaged to such a bum!)
But you never know: ?????‚?? ???????????????? ???µ???????????µ???????‹ (God moves in mysterious ways).
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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