???????°?‚?? ?»?????‚??: to kick oneself over something
Over the years, I’ve been looking at Russian body parts. No, let me start again.
Over the years, I’ve been trying to master Russian expressions connected with parts of the body. While I’m not convinced that these expressions are a reflection of Russian mentality, it sure is fun to see what associations and figurative meanings anatomy has evoked.
Right now, I’ve worked up the hand and forearm to ?»???????‚?? (elbow). In both Russian and English, the word for those pointy joints can also refer to the elbow of a piece of clothing, an L-shaped pipe or, less commonly, a sharp bend in a road or river. And both languages use the elbow to describe pushing through a crowd — literally or figuratively — to get what you want.
In Russian the standard expression is ?€?°?±???‚?°?‚?? ?»?????‚?????? (literally, “to work the elbows”). ?? ???·?? ?????µ?… ?????» ?·?°?€?°?±???‚?°?» ?»?????‚?????? ?? ???°?‡?°?» ???€???±?»???¶?°?‚?????? ?? ?????????????? (I used all my strength to elbow my way forward and began to get close to the podium). ?’?? ???»?°???‚?? ???€???±?????°???‚????, ?€?°?±???‚?°?? ?»?????‚?????? (People elbow their way into positions of power).
When Russians aren’t elbowing people out of the way, they are contemplating the possibility of biting their elbows. They use a diminutive of ?»???????‚?? — ?»???????‚???? — in the expression: ?‘?»???·???? ?»???????‚????, ???° ???µ ?????????????? (literally, “Your elbow is close, but you can’t bite it”). In English, we describe this as “so near and yet so far.” Sometimes they actually gnaw on them: ???????°?‚?? ?»?????‚?? (literally, “to bite one’s elbows”) is what you do when you deeply regret something. In English, we express this with another anatomically impossible feat. ?? ???µ ?????µ?»?°?» ?µ?? ???€?µ???»???¶?µ?????µ, ?? ?? ?‚?µ?… ?????€ ???????°?? ???µ?±?µ ?»?????‚?? (I didn’t ask her to marry me, and I’m still kicking myself).
Russians don’t have an exact equivalent of elbow grease, that stuff you use to get hard work done. But they do have a similar image: ?€?°?±???‚?°?‚??, ?·?°?????‡???? ?€?????°???° (to roll up their sleeves and get down to work).
There is also the expression ???? ?»???????‚?? ?? ???€?????? (literally, “up to one’s elbows in blood”) to describe people directly involved in murder or mayhem. In English, we focus on another joint: ?•???»?? ?? ?‡?µ?»?????µ???° ???????° ?€?????° ???? ?»???????‚?? ?? ???µ???????°?…, ?‚?? ???€?????°?? ???°???µ?€???????° ???? ?»???????‚?? ?? ???€?????? (If a person has one leg knee-deep in money, then the other leg is invariably knee-deep in blood).
The battlefield gave us the mysterious-sounding ?‡???????‚???? ?»?????‚?? (literally, “sense of elbow”), which is a sense of the proper distance between soldiers in formation — the span of a forearm. This might refer to a very old meaning of ?»???????‚??, which was a measure from the elbow to the middle finger. The expression can be used to describe team spirit or a strong sense of being supported by friends or colleagues. ?? ?‡?????»?? ?¶?µ?»?°?µ???‹?… ?????‚?€?????????????? ???‚?????????‚???? ?‚?µ ?»??????, ?????‚???€?‹?µ ?????µ???‚ ?€?°?·?????‚???µ ?‡???????‚???? ?»?????‚?? (The most attractive candidates for the job are people who have a well-developed team spirit). ?•?‰?µ ???? ???????µ???? ???·?±?€?°?????? ???€?µ?·?????µ???‚???? ?????‚???? ???°?·?‹???°?» ???µ?????µ???µ???° ?? ?‡?????»?µ ?»?????µ??, ?? ?????‚???€?‹???? ?? ???µ???? ?µ???‚?? ?‡???????‚???? ?»?????‚?? (Even before he was elected president, Putin called Medvedev one of the people he knew he could count on).
So I guess they’ll walk ?»???????‚?? ?? ?»???????‚?? (side by side) — at least until one of them elbows the other out of the way.
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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