?—?»???±???????µ?????‹?? ???????€????: the question of the hour
I'm always fascinated by Russian words that come from the same root and are very similar in meaning. That is, I find these words incredibly confusing, frustrating and annoying, and my misuse of them clearly gives me away as being ???µ?·???µ???????? (not from around here).
Well, that and my accent and my other mistakes in Russian grammar.
In any case, lately I've been a bit obsessed with ?·?»?????‚?? and ?·?»???±?°, which both originally come from ?·?»?? (evil) and can both be defined as malice, spite, rage, malevolence or animosity.
According to a highly unscientific poll of Russian speakers, ?·?»?????‚?? is the lesser evil. ?—?»?????‚?? is nastiness in the form of rage, and native speakers see it as an emotion that can come and go, often quickly, rather than a state of being. ???€???…???¶?? ?? ??????????: ?¶?µ???° ?€?????°?µ?‚????, ?° ???µ???? ?·?»?????‚?? ?±?µ?€?‘?‚ (So I come home and my wife starts yelling at me, and it makes me furious).
?—?»?????‚?? can even be a positive emotion in the context of a competition. Dmitry Medvedev once told the United Russia leadership, "?—?»?????‚?? — ?????‚, ?‡?‚?? ?????¶????, ???? ?? ?€?°?·???????‹?… ???€?µ???µ?»?°?…, ???????€?‚???????°?? ?·?»?????‚??, ?????·?????»?????‰?°?? ???????‚?????°?‚?? ?€?µ?·???»???‚?°?‚????" (Zeal ?€” that's what you need, but within reason: a passion to win that will produce results).
But the adjective ?·?»?????‚???‹?? often has the sense of persistent bad behavior. ?—?»?????‚???‹?? ???µ???»?°?‚?µ?»???‰???? is someone who consistently doesn't pay his bills. ?—?»?????‚???‹?? ???°?€???????‚?µ?»?? ?·?°???????° is what Americans used to call a scofflaw and now call a repeat offender.
But ?·?»?????‚???‹?? sometimes means particularly malevolent in some way: ?·?»?????‚?????µ ?±?°?????€???‚???‚???? (fraudulent bankruptcy); ?·?»?????‚???°?? ???»?µ???µ?‚?° (malicious slander).
?—?»???±?°, according to my respondents, is spitefulness that is more a state of being than a fleeting emotion. ?—?»???±???‹?? ?‡?µ?»?????µ?? is a nasty, spiteful, ill-natured person. ?????‚?°?‚?? ?·?»???±?? is a slightly old-fashioned way of bearing a grudge against someone: ?????° ?????·???°?»?°????, ?‡?‚?? ?€?°?·?±???»?° ???????? ???????° ?????‹???»?µ??????, ?????‚?°?? ?·?»???±?? ?? ?…???·???????? (She admitted that she broke the window in the house on purpose since she bore a grudge against the owner).
But ?·?»???±?° ?????? is not, as you might think, "malice of the day." Today, it means the hot topic, the latest news, the issues that most concern society. The phrase has even been turned into the adjective ?·?»???±???????µ?????‹??, as in ?·?»???±???????µ?????‹?µ ???????€?????‹ (burning issues) or ?·?»???±???????µ?????°?? ?????????° (topical book). Here there isn't much sense of wickedness or evil, except in the sense that the latest news or hottest topics are most likely to be about some problem or catastrophe. So where does this expression come from?
The Bible: Matthew 6:34. In old translations it reads: ?”?????»?µ?µ?‚ ?????µ???? ?·?»???±?° ?µ???? (Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof), but it's clearer in more recent translations: ?”???????»?????? ???»?? ???°?¶???????? ?????? ?µ???? ?·?°?±???‚?‹ (Each day has enough trouble of its own.) As far as I can tell, translators have disagreed over the intensity of the original Greek word, which in various languages and at various times has been rendered as evil, cares or trouble. And then the "cares of the day" evolved to be the most topical and urgent issues.
Today, one of these phrases is usually in the first question at a news conference: ?? ?·?°???°?? ???????€???? ???° ???°??????, ?????¶?°?»????, ?·?»???±???????µ???????? ?‚?µ???? (I'll ask a question about perhaps the most urgent topic of the day.)
The answer, of course, depends on the ?·?»???±?° ??????.
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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