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As president, Vladimir Putin was renowned for giving foreigners -- and sometimes his compatriots -- lessons in arcane or colorful Russian. As prime minister, he is continuing this fine tradition. For example, to rebuke State Duma deputies for speaking too harshly about the Belarus-Russia milk squabble, Putin recalled a phrase from his childhood. "?? ???????????‚?‹???°?»???? ???° ?»?µ?????????€?°?????????? ???»???†?µ ?? ?? ???°?? ???? ???????€?µ ?????????€???»??, '???‚?? ???°?? ???±?·?‹???°?µ?‚????, ?‚???‚ ?‚?°?? ?? ???°?·?‹???°?µ?‚????.'" (I grew up on the streets of Leningrad, and in the courtyards we used to say, "Whatever name you call someone is what you yourself are called.")
When I heard that phrase, a bell clanged dully in the back of my mind, and I began the arduous task of trolling my memory. It was -- wait -- a school bell, the bell for recess. Kids are in the playground. Someone is taunting and then -- come on, memory! ... Someone sings out ... wait, it's coming ... someone says ... got it: "I'm rubber and you're glue! Bad names bounce off me and stick to you!"
The image may be a bit different, but the idea is basically the same. Score one for the universality of children's schoolyard rhymes. And thanks, Putin, for a pretext to review some tricky verbs.
The basic verb pair for calling is ?·???°?‚??/?????·???°?‚??, which means to invite or call in. ???°?? ?????·???°?»?? ?? ???????‚?? (They invited us over). You might hear this verb when someone is asking a doctor to make a house call, a service largely forgotten in the United States but blessedly still practiced in Russia. ?? ?????·???°?» ???€?°?‡?° (I called in a doctor). It's also the verb used to find out what someone is called: ???°?? ?µ???? ?·???????‚? (What's his name?)
The adjective derived from this verb comes in handy when you are in an exalted mood: ?????????? ?·???°???‹?…, ???° ???°?»?? ???·?±?€?°?????‹?… (Many are called, but few are chosen). The noun derived from it -- ?·???°?????µ -- means someone's rank or status. ???°?????µ ?? ???µ???? ???‡?‘?????µ ?·???°?????µ? (What is his academic title?)
Then there's ???°?·?‹???°?‚??/???°?·???°?‚??, which means to give a name to something or someone. ???°?? ?????? ???°?·???°?»?? ?€?µ?±?‘?????°? (What did they call the baby?) ???°?? ???‹ ???°?·???°?»?? ?±?‹ ?‚?°?????? ???‚???‡????? (What would you call this thingamajig?) It can also be used when you want to name a characteristic feature of someone or something: ???µ?»???·?? ?µ?‘ ???°?·???°?‚?? ???€?°???°?????†?µ??, ???? ?????° ?????»???????????°?? (You can't call her a beauty, but she's nice looking). Or it can be used for identifying oneself. At conferences, the moderator often says: ???€?????? ?????µ?… ???‹???‚?????°???‰???… ???°?·???°?‚?? ???µ?±?? (Could all the speakers please identify themselves?)
This verb has a reflexive form that is one of the top 10 key words for foreigners learning Russian: ???°?·?‹???°?‚??????. Like children, we walk around asking, ???°?? ???‚?? ???°?·?‹???°?µ?‚???? ????-?€??????????? (What's this called in Russian?)
And then we come to ???±?·?‹???°?‚??/???±???·???°?‚?? (to call someone a bad name). You use this form of the verb when a person calls someone one particular bad name: ???? ???±???·???°?» ???µ???? ?????€?°?????? (He called me an idiot). You use the reflexive form of the verb -- ???±?·?‹???°?‚?????? -- when a person indulges in a spate of name-calling: ? ?µ?±?‘?????? ???±?·?‹???°?µ?‚???? ?? ?€?????°?µ?‚???? ???°?‚???? (The kid calls people names and swears).
Or maybe we're being too hard on the kid. ???? ???€?????‚?? ???°?·?‹???°?µ?‚ ???µ?‰?? ???????????? ?????µ???°???? (He just calls a spade a spade).
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
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