?”?? ???µ???????????? ?????»?µ???°: to the seventh generation, way back
?????»?µ???? is a strange little word. It has a huge range of meanings: knee, elbow, bend, generation, dance figure and stunt. And its conjugation sometimes depends on the meaning, and sometimes on the speaker.
The things you kneel on are ?????»?µ???? in the plural, but the pipe, generation, dance and stunt ?????»?µ???? are ?????»?µ???° in the plural. But you can say ?????‚?°?‚?? ?? ?????»?µ?? or ?????»?µ???µ?? (to get up off your knees, with knee in the genitive plural) as you wish. Where are the Russian language police when you need them?
They're probably playing international Scrabble with the English language police, who let you say either kneeled or knelt.
When people are talking about knees, pay attention to whether the person is sitting (?????????‚) or standing (???‚?????‚). ???‚?????‚?? ???° ?????»?µ?????… is to kneel; ???????µ?‚?? ?? ????????-?‚?? ???° ?????»?µ?????… is to sit on someone's lap.
And then you need to pay a lot of attention to context. ?????»?µ???? ?€?µ???? (literally the knee of a river) is a bend. ?????»?µ???? ?‚?€???±?‹ (literally the knee of a pipe) is what English speakers call an elbow. Streets with sharp bends are often called some form of ?????»?µ?????‹?? (knee-like), like the charming ???€???????????»?µ?????‹?? ???µ?€?µ???»???? (Crooked Knee Lane) in Moscow.
When people talk about ?????»?µ???? in the context of family professions or revenge, this ?????»?µ???? means generation. You're likely to hear the Biblical phrase ???? ???µ???????????? ?????»?µ???° (to the seventh generation), which sometimes means seven actual generations and sometimes means way, way back or way, way ahead. ?? ???°?? ???‡???‚?°?µ?‚???? ???????‚?‹?? ?????»?????? ?·???°?‚?? ?????????… ???€?µ???????? ???? ???µ???????????? ?????»?µ???°. (We consider it our sacred duty to know our ancestors back to the seventh generation.) ???‹ ?????±?µ?€?‘?????? ???? ?????µ?… ?µ???? ?????‚?????????? ???? ???µ???????????? ?????»?µ???° (We'll get every last one of his family for the next seven generations.)
?????»?µ????, or its diminutive form ?????»?µ???†?µ, can also be a dance step or any action that is unexpected, funny, or strange — perhaps because standing up and doing a two-step at a board meeting would be definitely weird. The stunt ?????»?µ???†?µ/?????»?µ???? uses the verb pair ???‹???????‹???°?‚??/???‹?????????‚??: ?????€?????? ?±?‹ ???‹?????????‚?? ?‚?°?????µ ?????»?µ???†?µ, ???‹???‚?? ?·?°?????¶ ?·?° ???‚?°?€?????? ???€?????° ?????»?????????‚??. (Maybe it would be a good idea to pull off a real stunt — marry my old childhood friend.)
The dance ?????»?µ???†?µ/?????»?µ???? (often plural ?????»?µ???†?°) usually uses the verb ???‹???µ?»?‹???°?‚?? (to do something to perfection) and sometimes the more expressive verb pair ???‚???°?»?‹???°?‚??/???‚?????»???‚?? (to chop off). ?‘???»?????µ ?????µ???? ???°?? ???€?°?????‚????, ?????????° ?????? ?€???????????? ???µ?????? ???‹ ???»?????µ?? ?? ???‹???µ?»?‹???°?µ?? ?€???????????µ ?????»?µ???†?°. (Most of all we love it when we dance to a Russian song and cut the rug with Russian dance steps.)
If someone has ?????»?????° ???°?? ?????»?µ????, it means he's as bald as a billiard ball. ???? ?????»?µ???? is used when you're up to your knees in water or something worse. But the expression ?µ???? ?????€?µ ???? ?????»?µ???? (literally he's up to his knees in the sea) means that he couldn't care less about danger — sea or no sea, he'll forge ahead. ?›?????°?‚??/???µ?€?µ?»???????‚?? ?‡?µ?€?µ?· ?????»?µ???? is to ride roughshod over someone or give a good beating. ???‹ ???????‚?€???? ???µ?€?µ?»???????»?? ?‡?µ?€?µ?· ?????»?µ???? (We decimated Austria.) And ???°???°?‚??/???°?‚?? ????????-?‚?? ?????»?µ???????? ?????? ?·?°?? (literally to give someone a knee to their backside) means to reject or eject someone.
All of this leaves me ???»?°?±???? ?? ?????»?µ?????… (weak in the knees).
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.