???±???€???????°: (slang) defense industry
One of my dorky, vaguely goodie-two-shoes habits is to read all major policy speeches by Russian and American leaders. This is mostly to be a good citizen — the civic equivalent of flossing twice a day — and sometimes because the speeches are actually interesting. I confess I always read Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s speeches hoping to learn more nonstandard Russian. But there was nothing in this year’s marathon call-in conversation that sent me scuttling to my dictionaries or calling friends for usage commentary. In general, this year’s talk was more linguistically restrained than during previous years.
One thing that did catch my eye was the use of what I call “???°” words: slangy, shortened forms of words and phrases with the ending -???°. These words, often professional jargon, are a real trial for translators.
Take, for example, the word ???±???€???????°, which is short for ???±???€???????°?? ???€?????‹???»?µ?????????‚?? (defense industry). In English, we don’t really have an equivalent, so you can’t do a lot with a phrase like this: “ … ?? ???€?????‹???»?µ?????????‚?? ???????€?°?‰?µ?????µ, ???°?? ?? ?????°?·?°?», ???¶?????°?µ?‚???? ???€?????µ?€???? ???° ???€???????µ ?????????? 13 ???€???†?µ???‚????, ?° ?? ‘???±???€???????µ’ — ???»???? 3,7 ???€???†?µ???‚?°” (Industry, as I said, is expected to contract by about 13 percent, but defense will show an increase of 3.7 percent).
???±???€???????° is contrasted with ???€?°?¶???°?????°, which is the entire nonmilitary economy. English has the word civvy, which is a tempting equivalent. Alas, in American slang we usually say “civvies” to mean civilian clothing. To convey Putin’s informal style, I might try a bit of compensation: “?•???‚?? ?????µ?????‹?µ, ?????‚???€?‹?µ, ???€?????»???¶???? ?? ?’?????€???¶?‘?????‹?… ?????»?°?… ?????€?µ???µ?»?‘???????µ ???€?µ????, ?????»?? ?? ???‚???‚?°?????? ?? ?µ?‰?‘ ?????»???‡???»?? ?????????»?????‚?µ?»?????‹?? ???‚?°?¶ ?€?°?±???‚?‹ ???° ???€?°?¶???°?????µ” (Some military personnel served in the armed forces for a length of time, then retired and racked up yet more seniority out in civilian jobs).
Another difficult word is ?????†???°?»???°, which refers to just about everything in society except for business: education, pensions, social services, sports, housing, health care and even road construction. When translating Putin’s use of this word, I’d probably go for explication over stylistic equivalence: “ … ?? ?‚?°?????… ???°???µ?»?‘?????‹?… ?????????‚?°?…, ???°?? ???????°?»?‘????, ?????¶???? ???????µ?€?????„???†???€?????°?‚?? ???????????????‡?µ???????? ???µ???‚?µ?»?????????‚??, ??, ???????µ?‡????, ?????¶???? ?·?°???????°?‚?????? ?????†???°?»??????” (In places like Pikalyovo, the economy must be diversified, and of course we have to focus on the whole sphere of public and social services).
One of the questions concerned acrimonious international divorces. Putin said: “?”?µ?»?‘?¶???° ???µ?‚?µ?? — ???‚?? ???¶?µ ???»???…??.” ?”?µ?»?‘?¶???° is from the verb ???µ?»???‚?? (to divide up), but I think that I’d go with a more colloquial American phrase: Child custody battles are bad no matter what the circumstances. Or perhaps: Fighting over the kids is bad in any case.
There was another “???°” word that puzzled me, but it turned out to be a different kind of slang. In reply to a question about the auto industry, Putin said: “???‹ ?????????????° ???µ ???????»?°?????????? ???° ???‚???‘?€?‚????” (literally, we’ll never agree to the screwdriver). It really means: We’ll never agree to just building cars with imported parts without our own production. How about this: We’ll never agree to being just a foreign car assembly line.
And here’s a nonslang “???°” word, used by Putin in reference to a bureaucrat’s letter: ?§?‚?? ???°???°?µ?‚???? ???‚???µ?‚?°, ?‚?? ???‚?? ???????°?? ???‚?????????° (Concerning the reply, it was clearly a pro forma letter). Or perhaps: You just got the runaround with that reply.
It’s clear, slangy and universally understood by bureaucracy’s victims everywhere.
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
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