???°???????? ???°???? ???€???????‚: boot with gaping holes
This spring weather is wild. There's no greater joy than bundling up in four layers of fleece and wading through knee-deep snow at the very end of March. The dogs are happy — nothing like a half meter of fresh snow to cheer a canine's heart — but the human beings are not.
The snow, icy mud and ?€?µ?°???µ???‚?‹ (de-icing agents) that the city insists are used ?? ???????????‚?????‹?… ?????€???°?… (within acceptable limits) — despite the fact that they bleach your doormats, burn your dog's paws, and sear holes in your $300, guaranteed-waterproof boots — take a real toll on winter outerwear. I'd like to ritually burn my winter duds when spring finally arrives, but by then there might be nothing left of them.
To describe your tattered clothes, you can go neutral with a word like ???·???????µ?????‹?? (worn), which can be applied to anything from a car motor to a pair of pants. ?????? ???‚?°???‹ ???€?????‚?? ???·???????µ?????‹?µ ???? ???‹?€ (My pants are so worn they have holes in them). Or you can just go with ???€?°???‹?? or ?€???°???‹?? (holey, torn). ?????¶?? ?? ???‚???… ???€?°???‹?… ???‚?°???°?… ???¶?µ ???µ???‚?? ???µ?????†?µ?? (I've been wearing these torn-up pants for six months now).
You might pull some prefixes out of your weather-stained linguistic pocket. The prefix ???‹-, which denotes an action done to completion, is very useful in this context. ???°???¶?µ?‚?‹ ?????€?‚???? ???‹?‚?µ?€?‚?‹?µ (The cuffs on my jacket are threadbare). Also useful is the prefix ?·?°-, which conveys the sense of an action done to excess. ???µ?±?µ ???µ ?…???»???????? ?? ???‚???… ?·?°?‚?€?‘???°?????‹?… ???‚?°???°?…? (Aren't you cold in those frayed pants?) And let's not forget the prefix ???·- or ????-, which describes an action done to exhaustion. ?? ???°?? ?±?????¶ ?? ?????‚?°?????°???????? ?????€???µ ?? ?????‚?????‚?°?????‹?… ?±???‚???????°?… (I look like a bum in this beat-up jacket and worn down boots).
If this is the 10th winter you've worn the same old ?????°?????° (fur hat with earflaps), you might take a higher linguistic road with the word ???µ?‚?…???? (old and dilapidated). In spiritual discussions, ???µ?‚?…???? has the meaning of ancient, as in ?’?µ?‚?…???? ?—?°???µ?‚ (The Old Testament). In sartorial descriptions, it means threadbare or scruffy, as in ???µ?‚?…?°?? ???‚ ???‚?°?€?????‚?? ???°?????° (fur hat ragged with age).
If you can still joke, you might aim for irony: ?????? ?±???‚???????? ?????‚?µ?€???»?? ?‚?????°?€???‹?? ?????? (My boots don't look like they came straight out of the box.)
Finally, you can use the fabulous phrase ???°???????? ???°???? ???€???????‚ (literally, my boots are asking for porridge), as if your boots were flapping open like a hungry child opening his mouth wide for a spoonful of oatmeal. ???‚ ???‚???… "???????»???????‡?µ?????? ???µ ???€?µ?????‹?…" ?€?µ?°???µ???‚???? ?????? ???°???????? ???€???????‚ ???°???? (My boots have gaping holes in them from the "ecologically safe" de-icing agents.)
Or you can forget how you look and contemplate the higher meaning of our anomalous weather. My personal theory is that we're living through the Russian version of ?”?µ???? ?????€???° (Groundhog Day), and we'll just keep reliving winter until we change our evil ways.
Writer Dmitry Bykov is more pointed in his accusations. After considering the weather in Moscow and Kiev, he wrote: ???€?????????· ???????????‹ ???‹???‡?µ ?????‚?µ?? / ?’ ???€???€?????µ ?????‘ ???µ ???? ?????? / ?’?µ?????‹ ???µ ?±?????µ?‚ ?‚?°??, ?????µ ?????‚????? / ???»?? ?????????±???‹?µ ?µ???? (While weather forecasters are disputing / It's clear nature has lost her mind / There will be no spring where there is Putin / Or others of his kind).
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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