Now that you've gotten a really good dip into that beautiful Russian language and are familiar with things like the diverse and all-expressing word ну, the proper way to say "Cheers!" (spoiler: NOT "Na zdorovie!"), and even discovered that the skill of Russian cursive writing is already 50% yours, it's time to get to know some words closer and have fun doing it, for there are many unique ones in it that English doesn't have.
The word in the middle: лишишь (lee-shish) — "you will deprive".
Other words: лилии (lee-lee-ee) — "lilies", дымишь (dy-mish) — "you are puffing", дышишь (dy-shish) — "you are breathing", лишишься (lee-shish-sya) — "you will lose", слышишь (sly-shish) — "you hear", шмншиллы (shin-shil-ly) — "chinchillas", ишемия (ee-shamee-ya) — "ischemia".
Surely, there are words like these in every language, so it's nothing new, but I just love to collect something of a "library" of them in my mind and enrich my world and speech with them. For Russian, it is its distinct ability to name things other languages didn't necessarilly bothered to, which makes it easier, faster, and more efficient explaining things and understanding each other (in the current Episode's bounds, let us draw a parallel with English only). I'll try to simplify and give you just some examples.
By the way, when I was making my research online trying to expand personal perception of the language and see what Russian words other people considered worthy of mentioning under such a topic, I ended up feeling disappointed: it looked like the articles I found were just copied from one another, and only a hand-ful of words repeated over and over. Shame, really. Russian is filled with great words, even without going into outdated ones (some of which are still in broad use) or slang (which is a curious art in and of itself, and, probably, a subject for a whole article... or five).
So here they are.
Let's start with a group of Efficient Five that perfectly name in one word what English does in several:
- Кругосветка (croo-guh-svet-kuh) = a trip around the world.
If I wanted to make up in English a word closest to this one, I'd say it would be "roundworldery". - Полтора (pul-tuh-ruh) = one and a half.
I love it that in Russian you don't have to say 4 words for such a simple measurement. - Позапрошлый (puh-zuh-prosh-liy) = the one before last.
Time-wise and in relationships, anything that happened right before the last one is that — позапрошлый: Sunday, romantic affair, century, weekend, vacations, year, meeting, month, week, evening, owner (of a pet or a thing), season, flight, etc. - Сутки (soot-key) = 24 hours.
As precision is important, and having schedules for some jobs with shifts that last the whole day of 24 hours followed by a break of, say, three full 24-hour periods, it is quite a mouthful to name such a con-cept in English, isn't it? Thanks to the Russian word defining the period of time that lasts exactly 24 hours, all the confusion goes away: сутки через трое, or literally "sootki in three". And no, you can't be late — it's in the name, buddy. - Приторный (pree-tar-niy) = excessively sweet to the point that it is unpleasant (food-wise, or how someone or something comes across).
It is not exacly cloying or tricly. Frankly, Russian word says it way better.
Let's get your brain tingled with the Amazing Four Stories about precise, clever words Russian brings into your life that, after you read them, will never be the same.
1. You may not!
One Russian word you hear a lot as a child is "Нельзя!" (nell-zya): "Нельзя touch mom's cosmetics and creams!", "Нельзя eat paint!", "Нельзя climb onto the open window to read poems out loud to the world from the ninth floor!" — you know, the usual stuff. An efficient, again, Russian word summing up in itself an abrupt and imperative meaning "Don't!", or "You may not!", or "Not allowed!" that suggests no negotiation. It mostly comes without the long explanation what it is that нельзя to do, but more like an alarm, and you figure out the forbidden action from what was taken away from you: "Нельзя!"
2. Sunny bunny
Some time ago I noticed that a great word combination is absolutely missing in English whereas in Russian it has such a lovely name! I believe English needs it, too. You know that game we played at school during breaks or boring classes when you take out a little pocket mirror, catch sunlight with it, and reflect it onto the walls and all over the place? Well, in Russian there is a lovely name for these reflections of sunlight: солнечный зайчик (sol-nech-niy zuy-chik) that literally translates as "sunny bunny"! Isn't it just cute? How to leave in the world where you don't cast sunny bunnies I will never know!
3. Byt
Sweeping floors, making lunch, repairing a leaking faucet, making a list of things you need to buy in all kinds of shops, going to all those shops, sewing up a fallen off button to a shirt, cooking dinner, planning meals for tomorrow, fixing the TV, washing dishes, setting up the table, cleaning off the table, laundering, and so on it goes... But it's not so easy to intimidate the Russian language, so it gathered all these separate actions into one simple and short word: быт (byt) — number one killer of the soul, let's be honest. It's not just everyday life or housekeeping, быт is all those life-maintaining processes and things to do plus all the mundane routines that happen in our homes. In Russian, it usually has somewhat of a drag-y air to it.
4. Parclose
You have a window open and you'd like to have it closed, but not all the way, just until, say, a hand-wide crack is left. How do you convey this particular idea to your spouse passing by the said window who could easily do it for you? Russian saves your time and breath as it has it all figured out in one word: прикрыть (pree-kryt' — apostrophe reminds you to pronounce the last t sound as soft). Why doesn't it exist in English?
I suffered through long-winded explanations for that particular situation so much that I made up my own English word for such a case: "parclose" — that is what my husband and I use now. Don't you find it quite convenient: "Parclose the window, dear, please!" That's gold, I tell ya!
As you now aware, Russian is great at being concise and to-the-point. That truly makes it a great language for science! I tried reading physics in English once and almost droolled all over the book overwhelmed by boredom and confusion, whereas in Russian physics is clear and doesn't lull you into senselessness.
Sadly, the downside to that is that everything feelings related sounds like a theater, or a cheap drama perfomance in Russian: overblown out of proportion, not convincing and even kindergarden-y. When you hear phrases customery to a regular conversation in English, like "He hurt me" or "I am doing my best", translated to Russian, you want to slap whoever says it across the face (even if it's yourself) and say: "Pull yourself together, you wimp!" Those sentences come across strange, even though in English they are quite strong and legitimate.
I find it much simpler and more comfortable to communicate and talk about my feelings in English than it is for me in Russian, where you can't really say: "I feel passionate (about something)", "I feel overwhlmed", "I feel heartbroken", or frustrated, or grounded, humbled, encouraged, resigned, reluctant, rattled. In fact, Russian sentences rarely start with words "I feel". There is also no word for light-headed or thirsty — you'd have to say "My head is spinning" and "I want to drink" in the Russian language, correspondingly.
Somehow, it also missed out on words like "sibling" and "backfire" which is sad for they are truly efficient and should definitely be in Russian.
I'll share one last discovery about the Russian language that surprised me and that fits perfectly the mood of this Episode. I didn't know that but in Russian there is a phrase similar to the English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" or the Chinese "Shī Shì shí shī shǐ» Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī. Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī. Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì…", or some others I've been collecting throughout this Langventure!
It is built out of the word косой, pronounced kuh-soy, and goes like this: "За косой косой косой пал под косой косой с косой" (Za kusoy kusoy kusoy pul pud kusoy kusoy s kusoy) — meaning "Behind a sloping sandbank, a hare fell under a scythe of a cross-eyed woman with a braid". A dreadful story, sure, but a poet from China who eats lions —that "Shī Shì shí shī shǐ" thing— is way more so.
Before this Langventure, I never knew Russian can do that and was somewhat jealous of those languages that could! Frankly, I am surprised at how many things I didn't know about my native language and that Russian has so much more depth than I was aware of. If you speak English, learning Russian might be as difficult for you as learning Chinese. But don't let that first fear intimidate you. Remember that English and Russian have the same "father" and not only differencies but similarities, too. So draw your confidence from there and from all those cool advantages I told you about that the language has to offer.
And it has to offer, indeed, a lot.
This is it for our Langventure into the Russian language. Curious what awaits us next?
Stay tuned!
До свидания! (Doh svee-uh-nee-ya!) Until we meet again!
"Langventure is кайф!"
Discover more about Russian and other languages at langventure.mystrikingly.com!
