Every year since 2007, a jury of Russian linguists, philosophers, writers and educators gathers together and votes for ???»?????° ???????° (words of the year). These are words and phrases that were either coined this year or soared in frequency of use and that encapsulate the year's zeitgeist.
In 2012, the jury apparently decided that the Russian zeitgeist was feisty.? The top word of the outgoing year was ?±???»???‚???°?? (boggy), as in ?‘???»???‚???°?? ???»???‰?°???? (Bog Square) — the place of numerous oppositional rallies and the symbol of dissent.
No. 2 on the list was the foreign counterpart to ?‘???»???‚???°?? — ???????????°?? (occupy), which was promptly borrowed in Russia, both in word and deed. The rest of this eight-word category reflects the headlines of the year: ???°????-?????»?µ?±?µ?? (punk prayer); ?????‰?????????†?‹ (women blasphemers, that is, the Pussy Riot women) — a word once so rare a standard spell-checker still flags it; ???€???????????????µ (injustice system), based on the contrast between ???€?°?????° (truth, law) and ???€???????° (falsehood, injustice); ???°?€?????µ?»?? and ???°?€?????µ?»???‰???? (carousel voting, carousel voter); and ?????‚?????? (demonstration).
One word on the list was the newly minted ?€?µ?»?????°?€?…???? (religarchy). It should be noted that a religarchy differs from a theocracy. In the former, the religious leaders play a strong role in the government. In the latter, the leaders are believed to be divinely guided. Let's just slide past that distinction.
Moving right along, the top expressions were all white, reflecting the white ribbons worn by opposition demonstrators: ?±?µ?»?‹?? ???€???? (white circle); ?±?µ?»?°?? ?»?µ???‚?° (white ribbon); ?±?µ?»?°?? ?€?µ?????»???†???? (white revolution); and of course, ?±?µ?»???»?µ???‚???‡?????? (white ribbon wearer, that is, an opposition activist).
Other top phrases included ?????????‚?€?°?????‹?? ?°???µ???‚ (foreign agent); ???€?µ?°?‚???????‹?? ???»?°???? (creative class); ???????????? ???°???????‚?????????? (Magnitsky list); and ???????µ?† ?????µ?‚?° (end of the world), which may occur before anyone reads this if those folks selling end-of-the-world survival kits are right.
Lucky for us, the top phrase of the year was very anti-Mayan: ?‘???????€???????†?°, ?????‚?????° ???€??????????! (Mother of God, cast Putin out!) The category of phrases also included ???‹ ???€?????‘?? ?µ?‰?µ (we'll be back) and ?·?° ?‡?µ???‚???‹?µ ???‹?±???€?‹ (for fair elections).
For some people, that may the end of the world.
The list of ?°???‚?????·?‹?? (anti-language, defined by the jury as false and propagandistic words and expressions) included ?????????€?±?»?µ?????µ ?‡???????‚?? ???µ?€?????‰???… (offending the feelings of religious believers); ?»???¶???‹?µ ?†?µ?????????‚?? ?°???€?µ???????????????? ?»???±?µ?€?°?»???·???° (false values of aggressive liberalism) and ???µ ?€?°?????°?‡?????°???‚?µ ?»???????? (don't rock the boat).
Am I the only one who heard that last phrase and immediately imagined President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev dancing on the Kremlin walls, singing that song from "Guys and Dolls": "Sit down! Sit down! Sit down! Sit down, you're rocking the boat!"?
Get a grip on it, Berdy.
Finally, this year gave the Russian language and speakers some fine authorial neologisms. My favorite is ?????»?‡?µ???????µ?†, a blend of ???‡?µ???????µ?† (eyewitness) and ?????»?‡?°?????µ (silence) that means: someone who was an eyewitness to events but remains silent about what he has seen. But I also like ?€?°?·???????°?????‚?°?€?????°?????µ — the dehumanitarization of society, ?‚???€?¶?µ???‚???? ?‚?µ?…???????€?°?‚???‡?µ?????????? ?†???????·???° (the victory of technocratic cynicism).
Oh, dear. Now I can't get the song out of my head. "For the people all said beware? / You're on a heavenly trip. … And the devil will drag you under? / By the fancy tie 'round your wicked throat? /
Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down? /Sit down, you're rocking the boat!"
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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