?—?°?‚???‡???‚??: to sharpen, imprison, customize
In the pre-dawn darkness, when I am woken up by the clanking of construction and swearing of workers under my window, I like to imagine that it’s 100 years ago and I’m hearing the squeak of a wheel and the call of ?‚???‡???»???‰???? (knife-grinder): ?????¶?? ?‚???‡???‚??! (Sharpen your knives!)
This pathetic attempt at self-delusion is probably the result of my obsession with the word ?·?°?‚???‡???‚?? (to sharpen) and its various derivations, which seem to have multiplied exponentially in form and meaning lately.
True, ?·?°?‚???‡???‚?? sometimes means what I expect it to mean. ?›???±???? ?¶?µ?»?°???‰???? ???€?????? ?? ???????€?‚?????????? ???°???°?·?????µ ?????¶?µ?‚ ?·?°?‚???‡???‚?? ???????????? (Anyone can sharpen his skates right in the sporting goods store). I’m also more or less used to an old-fashioned usage of the verb, which means to imprison someone. ?¦?°?€?? ?·?°?‚???‡???» ?¶?µ???? ?? ???????°???‚?‹?€?? (The tsar shut his wife away in a convent).
And it wasn’t hard to figure out that ?·?°?‚???‡???° is a camp term for a handmade knife, what in English is called a shiv or shank knife. I could also understand a sentence like this, where the sharpening was more figurative: ?’?????€???? ?·?°?‚???‡?µ?? ???€?°?????»?????? (The question is sharply focused).
But then take the adjectival form of ?·?°?‚???‡???‚??, ?·?°?‚???‡?µ?? (?·?°?‚???‡?µ???°, ?·?°?‚???‡?µ????). It is usually used with the preposition ?????? to refer to something that is customized for someone or something. For example: ???°???‚ ?±?‹?‚ ?·?°?‚???‡?µ?? ?????? ?†?µ?»?µ?????? ?°???????‚???€???? (The site was designed for a specific target audience). Sometimes you find this sense with the verb ?·?°?‚???‡???‚??: ?”?»?? ?‚??????, ?‡?‚???±?‹ ?????? ???€?????»?µ???»?? ?????????°?????µ ???°???€????????????, ???°?? ?????¶???? ?·?°?‚???‡???‚?? ?????? ?????… ???????‘ ?€?µ?·?????µ (In order to catch the attention of the managers in human resources, you have to customize your resume to suit them).
But customizing isn’t always a good thing. When you creatively customize a request for bids, ?·?°?‚???‡?µ?????????‚?? can mean bid-rigging: ?—?°?‚???‡?µ?????????‚?? ?????????†?????°?»?????‹?… ???????????€?????? ?????? ?????????€?µ?‚???????? ???‡?°???‚???????° ???‚?°?»?° ???€?µ?????µ?‚???? ???±?????¶???µ?????? ???° ?·?°???µ???°?????? ?????€???????????? ?°???‚???????€?€?????†???????????? ???????????????? (Rigging the city’s bid requests in favor of a specific company was discussed by the city anti-corruption commission). Or it can mean serving someone’s interests in an unfair way, as in this old headline about staff changes in Moscow: ???????????????????µ ?????»?????????? ?±???»?µ?µ ???µ ?·?°?‚???‡?µ???‹ ?????? ?›???¶???????° (The Moscow siloviki are no longer Luzhkov’s men). Or it can mean benefiting one group, as in this complaint: ?????€ ?·?°?‚???‡?µ?? ?????? ?????¶?‡????! (It’s a man’s world!)
Sometimes people use the preposition ???° with ?·?°?‚???‡?µ????: ???‚?????‚ ?????????°?‚?µ?»?????? ???·???‡???‚?? ?????‹?‚ ??????????, ?????µ ????-???±?€?°?·?????°?????µ ?·?°???????°?µ?‚ ?????‰?µ???‚???µ?????? ???µ???????µ ???€?µ???µ????, ???? ?·?°?‚???‡?µ???? ???° ?????¶???‹ ???????????‚?€???? (It’s worth carefully studying the experience of India, where IT training is considerably shorter but is specifically designed to meet the needs of industry).
In other cases, ?·?°?‚???‡?µ?????????‚?? means getting stuck on something. ?—?°?‚???‡?µ?????????‚?? ???µ?????‚???€?‹?… ?¶???€???°?»?????‚???? ???° ?‡?‘?€?????? ?????°?€?µ ?? ???‚???????µ?????? ?????????·???‘?·?? ???µ ?????¶?µ?‚ ???µ ?±?µ?????????????‚?? (It’s worrisome that some journalists get hung up on negative PR about movie stars). Or focusing on something to the detriment of everything else: ?????µ?†???„???‡?µ???????? ???»?? ? ?????????? ?????»???µ?‚???? ?·?°?‚???‡?µ?????????‚?? PR-???µ???µ???¶?µ?€???? ???° ?€?µ???µ?????µ ?‡?°???‚???‹?… ?·?°???°?‡ ?? ???€???±?»?µ?? (Typically in Russia, PR managers get hung up focusing on narrow tasks and problems).
Until all these usages get codified, I’ve got to agree with one blogger who wrote: ?—?°?‚???‡?µ?????????‚?? ?·?°?‚???‡?µ?????????‚?? ?€???·???? (There’s focusing, and then there’s focusing). I hear you, man.
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter. A collection of her columns, “The Russian Word’s Worth,” has been published by Glas.
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