? ?°?·???µ???‡????: an intelligence officer, prospector, scout, explorer
I’m sure glad the “?????????????????? ?????°?????°?»” (“spy scandal”) is over and the Russians are home. I was tired of worrying about their kids. I was tired of hearing myself mutter at the news. I mean, how many times can you say, “They weren’t charged with spying” in your kitchen before someone pays attention to you? And my friends were probably tired of my e-mail reminders to delete from their social media accounts any photos they wouldn’t want to see plastered on the front page of tabloids.
Although this subject is unlikely to come up again — because countries will stop spying on each other, right? — you might like some help breaking the spy word codes if you’re following the post-scandal punditry.
For example, you might hear: ?? ???°?? — ???????????‹; ?? ???°?? — ?€?°?·???µ???‡??????. (You have spies; we have intelligence officers.) In Russian, like in English, spying is not a good thing. ?????????? (spy), ???????????°?¶ (espionage) and ?????????????‚?? (to spy) all have strongly negative connotations. Espionage is unpleasantly clandestine, and the spy’s intentions toward the spied upon are not benign. Take this example: ?????° ?????????????»?° ?·?° ???‚?°?€???µ?? ???µ???‚?€????, ?†?µ?»?????‰?µ?????? ?? ???°?»???‡???????? (She spied on her sister kissing a boy). You just know the little sister is a tattletale and Mom’s about to get a full report.
In contrast, ?€?°?·???µ???‹???°?‚??/?€?°?·???µ???°?‚?? is a more neutral verb pair that can be used in several different contexts. It can mean “to find something out”: ?? ???????‹?‚?°?»???? ?€?°?·???µ???°?‚?? ?????µ-???°?????µ ???????€???±???????‚?? ?? ?????????? ?‚?µ?»?µ???µ?€?µ???°?‡?µ (I tried to ferret out some details on the new television show). It can mean “to scope out” a situation: ?????????? ?·?°???????‹???°?‚?? ???‹???° ???° ?????€???‹ ?? ?€?°?·???µ???°?‚?? ???±???‚?°?????????? ???·?????‚?€?? (I’m going to go sign my son up for courses and scope out the situation from the inside). It also can mean “to prospect” for mineral or other resources: ???‹ ?????µ?…?°?»?? ?€?°?·???µ???‹???°?‚?? ???€?????????µ ???µ???‚???€???¶???µ?????µ ???»?°?‚?????‹ (We went to prospect for a major deposit of platinum). In the context of a military operation or surveying, it can mean to reconnoiter: ???µ???±?…?????????? ?±?‹?»?? ?€?°?·???µ???°?‚?? ???µ???‚???????‚?? (We needed to reconnoiter the territory).
? ?°?·???µ?????° is the act of exploring, gathering intelligence, or searching. You can hear this term used jokingly, say, at the dacha when the guys are drinking beers as they get the fire going for shashlyk. One of the wives might say: ???°???? ???°?»???‡?????? ?·?°?‚???…?»??. ?????????? ???° ?€?°?·???µ??????, ???·???°?? ???°?? ?‚?°?? ???????‚?‘?€. (The boys have gotten quiet. I’ll go check out how the fire is doing.) In this context, the fire scout (or, rather, the husband-checker) can be jokingly called ?€?°?·???µ???‡????.
In the context of recent events, ?€?°?·???µ?????° can be used informally to describe intelligence gathering services and personnel. For example, a journalist writes: “?????????????????? ?????°?????°?»” ???????°?·?°?» ???°???? ?€?°?·???µ?????? ?? ???‚?€?°???????? ?????µ?‚?µ (The “spy scandal” showed our intelligence service in a strange light). More formally, the intelligence service is called ???»???¶?±?° ?????µ?????µ?? ?€?°?·???µ?????? (Foreign Intelligence Service).
? ?°?·???µ???‹???°?‚?µ?»?????°?? ???µ???‚?µ?»?????????‚?? is intelligence gathering and doesn’t have the bad connotation of all the sneaking and skulking of ???????????°?¶. The idea is that when we do it, our intentions are honorable. Consequently, ?€?°?·???µ???‡???? is one of the good guys, an intelligence officer or agent on our side. For this reason, “?????????????????? ?????°?????°?»” virtually always appears in the Russian press in quotes, not only because it’s a citation from the English, but because our folks can’t be ???????????‹.
This is where I start muttering, “But I told you they weren’t charged with espionage.”
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.