?—?°?????€???‚?? ?‡?µ?€?????‡???°: to have a bite to eat
I have a great fondness, tempered with exasperation, for Russian verbs with a half dozen different, completely contradictory meanings.
Take ?????€???‚?? and its perfective mates ?·?°?????€???‚?? and ???????€???‚??. They can mean to kill, starve, poison, wear out, bore to tears, give someone a belly laugh or stain — not to mention to take an edge off your hunger.
By and large, this isn't a cheery word. It has the root ?????€- which produces words connected with death and dying, such as ?????µ?€?µ?‚?? (to die). ?????€???‚?? can mean to kill with poison. ???°?¶???‹?? ?????? ?????€???‚ ?‚?°?€?°???°?????? ?? ???°???µ?? ???????µ (Every year they fumigate the house to get rid of cockroaches). Sometimes the extermination can be figurative: ?—?°?????€???? ?? ???µ?±?µ ???????°?‚?µ?»??, ?? ???‚?°?» ???€?????‚?‹?? ?»?µ???‚???€???? ?? ?????????µ?€?????‚?µ?‚?µ (I killed off the writer in me and became a simple university lecturer).
But ?????€???‚?? can bring death in other ways, too: by wearing people down, exhausting or starving them. ?????? ?…???‚???‚ ???°?? ?????»???????? ?·?°?????€???‚?? (They want to starve us to death). ?“???»???????? ?·?°?????€???‚?? should remind you of the noun ?????»???????????€ (extermination by starvation) that is used most commonly to describe the mass starvation in Ukraine under Stalin.
Thirst, too much work, too much sun and not enough sleep can also wear a person down. ???°?? ?????€???»?° ?¶?°?¶???° (We were dying of thirst). ???° ???????„?µ?€?µ???†???? ???????»?µ ???±?µ???° ???????‡???‹?µ ???????»?°???‹ ?????‡?‚?? ???????€???»?? ???µ???? (At the conference, the boring presentations after lunch just about put me to sleep). Oddly to my ear, when you want to say that you are exhausted and sleepy, you say ?????? ?????€???‚ (I'm dying to go to sleep, literally "sleep is killing me").
There are two adjectives derived from the perfective verbs, ?·?°?????€?‘?????‹?? (emaciated, exhausted) and ???????€?‘?????‹?? (exhausted, worn out, beat). ???‚???‹?…?°???‰???µ, ???????€?‘?????‹?µ ?????»???†?µ??, ???????°?????µ?? ?? ???±?µ??????, ?»?µ?¶?°?»?? ???° ???°?????????‹?… ???°?‚?€?°???°?… ?? ?????°?»?? (The vacationers, exhausted by the sun, swimming and lunch, lay on air mattresses and slept). ?? ???µ?‘ ?±?‹?» ???‡?µ???? ???‚?€?°?????‹??, ?·?°?????€?‘?????‹?? ?? ???·?????‡?µ?????‹?? ?????? (She looked just awful — emaciated and totally worn out).
On a slightly lighter note, for DIY-ers, ?????€???‚?? means to stain wood and has produced the noun ?????€???»???° (stain). ?? ???µ ?·???°?? ?‡?µ?? ?·?°?????€???‚?? ?????°?‚???»???? — ?‡?°?µ?? ???»?? ?????€???»?????? (I can't decide what to stain the box with — tea or wood stain).
But there is a brighter side to this dark verb. ?????€???‚??/???????€???‚?? can mean to make someone laugh. Think of doubling over with laughter and protesting, "Stop! You're killing me!" ?????° ?…???…???‚?°?»?°, ?€?°?????°?‡?????°??????. — ????, ???????€???» ???µ????! (She shook with laughter. "Oh, you gave me a good laugh!") This has produced the adverb ???????€???‚?µ?»?????? (hilariously): ???»?????? ?±?‹?» ???????€???‚?µ?»?????? ?????µ?????‹?? (The clown was hilariously funny). And the noun ???????€?° (something hilariously funny). ???‹ ???????µ?» ???µ?€?µ?????? ???µ????! ????, ???????€?°! (Did you see the translation of the menu? What a riot!)
And then there's the odd little idiom ?·?°?????€???‚?? ?‡?µ?€?????‡???° (literally, "to kill the worm"). It seems to be a calque from the French tuer le ver (to kill the worm) and referred to drinking a shot of alcohol in the morning to kill off intestinal worms.? The yuck factor seems to have disappeared from the Russian perception of the phrase, which now means to have a bite to eat. Of course, the concept is relative. ?§?‚???±?‹ ?·?°?????€???‚?? ?‡?µ?€?????‡???°, ?????° ???°?»?° ?????µ ???±?»?????? (To tide me over, she gave me an apple).
????, ???????€?°!
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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