???? ?????€?»??: up to your neck
Once upon a time, after the great lexicographer Vladimir Dal ate too many psychedelic mushrooms and went into a dream state, he announced to his charges — the words in his dictionary — that he was organizing a contest to see which words had the most synonyms. ?????????? (a lot) and ???°?»?? (a little), who already had a testy relationship, decided to compete. When Dal awoke, he had to give the prize to ??????????, because ?????????? ?‡???????‚????, ?° ???°?»?? ???±?????µ?‚???? (much is dreamed but little comes true).
It's true. I saw it in a dream after a batch of the same mushrooms. One thing is clear: There are a lot of ways to say ??????????.
You can express ?????????? by metaphor: ???°?????? (wagon), ?????€?‹ (mountains), ?????‡?° (pile), ?»?µ?? (forest), ?????€?µ (sea), ???°?????° (mass), ?€?µ???° (river, often said of drink), ?????‚???? (flood), ?„?????‚?°?? (fountain), ?…???€ (choir) or ?‚?????° (a tremendous amount).
???????° is an interesting word. One of the meanings is darkness, and I first thought that the image was of something stretching out into infinity like the night. As usual, I was wrong. The second, now obsolete, meaning is 10,000 of something, but today it just means a whole lot: ???° ?‘???»???‚?????? ?±?‹?»?° ?‚?????° ???°?€?????° (There were a gazillion people on Bolotnaya Ploshchad).
If you don't like metaphors, you can go with similes. For example: the lofty ???°?? ?·???‘?·?? ???° ???µ?±?µ (like stars in the sky), the exotic ???°?? ???±?µ?·?????? ?? ???¶???????»???… (like monkeys in the jungle), or the down-home ???°?? ???µ?»?????µ?? ?? ?±???‡???µ (like herring in a barrel). You might also use the odd expression ???°?? ?????±?°?? ???µ?€?µ?·?°???‹?… (like uncut dogs), which according to some etymologists originally referred to packs of uncastrated dogs around a bitch in heat.
Or go with hyperbole: ???????†?°-???€?°?? ???µ ?????????? (no end in sight), ???µ???µ?€?µ???? (countless), ???µ???·???µ?€?????? (immeasurable), ???µ ???‡???‚?°???? (uncountable), ?±?µ?????????µ?‡???? (infinite), ?±?µ???‡?????»?µ?????? (innumerable), ???????°?????… ???‡?‘?‚???? ???µ ?…???°?‚???‚ (can't be counted), ???? ?????€?»?? (up to your neck), ???µ ???µ?€?µ???‡???‚?°?‚?? (endless; literally "can't be counted"), or ?‡?????»?° ???µ?‚ (there is no number [for how many]).
How much was there? ???????»?????? ???????µ ???????????? (as much as your heart desires). ???????»?????? ?…???‡?µ???? (as much as you want). ?????‚?? ?·?°???????†?µ?? ?µ???? (up to your butt in; literally "you could eat it with your butt [and there would still be more]). ?????‚?? ???‚?±?°???»???? (more than you can shake a stick at, literally "you could take some away [and there would still be more]).
Are you sure there were that many? ?”?° ???¶?°?? ???????»??????! (It took my breath away!) ?’?‹???µ ???€?‹????! (Higher than the roof!) ?‘?????? ?·?????€????! (You bet!) ?“?€?????°?????‘! (A slew of them!)
Was there a lot of food at the reception? ???‚???»?‹ ?»???????»??????! (The tables were groaning!) ?•???? — ???µ ?…???‡?? (You could eat your fill and then some). ?????? ?·?°?????·????! (Up to the brim!) ???°???°?»????! (Tons!)
Was there really so much work? ???µ?????‡?°?‚?‹?? ???€?°??! (There's no end in sight!) ???µ ?????€?µ?±?‘????????! (You'll never dig yourself out!)
Did you get a lot of job candidates? ???‹ ?‡?‚?? — ???‚?±???? ???µ?‚! (Are you kidding? We couldn't beat them away.)
Was that guy really so skilled? ?‘???? ?µ???? ???µ ???±?????µ?» ?‚?°?»?°???‚?°???? (God gave him talent to spare.)
It's true: ?????????? — ?…???€??????, ?° ?±???»?????µ — ?»???‡???µ ?‚?????? (A lot is good, but more is better still.) But beware: ?????????? — ???‹?‚????, ???°?»?? — ?‡?µ???‚???? (With plenty you aren't hungry, but with little you're honest.)
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.