???»?µ?±???? ???µ ?????€????: someone's favorite thing
I think we can all agree that Russians can get pretty passionate about things — perhaps even more so than other nationalities, although I'm not sure how to go about researching that. There is no nuts-o-meter that would allow cross-cultural comparisons. But in any case, the Russian language offers a plethora of ways to express passionate interests.
To describe lovers of the arts, Russian began to use a word borrowed from French, ???µ?»?????°?? (music lover), and then generated ?±?°?»?µ?‚?????°?? (ballet lover) and ???????????°?? (cinema lover). A theater lover is described with the homegrown terms ?‚?µ?°?‚?€?°?» for a man and ?‚?µ?°?‚?€?°?»???° for a woman. For those whose passion has crossed the line into addiction, Russians have borrowed from English to describe ?°?»?????????»???? (alcoholic), ?‚?€???????????»???? (workaholic), and even ?????????????»???? (shopaholic).
Or you can just call someone ?»???±???‚?µ?»?? (lover) and add a noun. A friend with a great appetite calls himself ?»???±???‚?µ?»?? ???????????µ???????????? ?? ???µ?????»?µ?·???????? (a great lover of everything that tastes good and is bad for me). Sometimes you can replace the noun with a gesture. The same friend adds: ?? ?? ?±???»???????? ?»???±???‚?µ?»?? ???‚?????? ???µ?»?° (And I'm a great lover of doing this) and snaps his fingers on this side of his neck to show what "this" is: hitting the bottle.
The only tricky bit about the word ?»???±???‚?µ?»?? is that it can also mean an amateur: ?’ ?‚?€???????µ ?µ???‚?? ???€???„?µ???????????°?»?????‹?µ ?°???‚?‘?€?‹ ?? ?€?µ?¶???????‘?€?‹, ?? ?µ???‚?? ?»???±???‚?µ?»?? (The troupe has professional actors and directors as well as amateurs). When ?»???±???‚?µ?»?? is combined with an art, object or sport, it doesn't mean a lover; it means a nonprofessional. So ?????????»???±???‚?µ?»?? is an amateur film maker, and ?°???‚???»???±???‚?µ?»?? is a nonprofessional driver.
If a person's love for something is ramped up high but hasn't quite crossed over into addiction, you can call him ?„?°???°?‚ (fan, fanatic). This is most commonly used for sports fans: ?????»???‹ ?„?°???°?‚???? ?‚?€?µ?±?????°?»?? ?°???‚?????€?°?„?° ?? ?„???‚?±???»?????‚?°, ?????????° ???? ?????????»???»???? ???° ???»???†?µ (Crowds of fans asked for the soccer player's autograph whenever he went outside.) But it can also be used to describe anyone whose passion for something is a bit unhealthy: ???‚?µ?† ?±?‹?» ?„?°???°?‚???? ???????µ?? ???€???„?µ???????? ?? ?????? ???‚?°?‚?? ?¶?µ?€?‚?????? ?·?°?†?????»?µ?????????‚?? (My father was a fanatic about his work to the point of obsession).
If you want to describe a less frenetic passion, you can use the word ?????‡???‚?°?‚?µ?»?? (admirer). This is a good word to pull out of your linguistic pocket when you unexpectedly crash into an author at a book store reading: ?? ?????»???????? ???°?????? ???°???????? ?????‡???‚?°?‚?µ?»?µ?? (I've long been an admirer of your work). Just hope the pleased writer doesn't ask: ?? ???°???°?? ?????? ?????????° ?±???»?????µ ?????µ???? ???°?? ???€?°?????‚????? (Which of my books do you like best?)
I like the slightly old-fashioned word ???°????????, which describes having a weakness for something or someone. The word is either followed by ???° and the accusative case or ???? and the genitive case. ???? ???°?????? ???° ?»?µ???‚?? (He's a sucker for flattery). ?????° ???°?????° ???? ???»?°?????????? (She's got a weakness for sweets).
Another vivid expression is ?…?»?µ?±???? ???µ ?????€????, which literally means "you don't even have to feed him bread." The idea is that someone loves to do something so much that he'd give up food for it. ?’?°?? ?…?»?µ?±???? ???µ ?????€????, ?‚???»?????? ???°?? ?????±???»?‚?°?‚??, ???€???‡?‘?? ???µ ???? ?‚?µ???µ. (You like nothing better than to talk — and especially off-topic).
In other words, he's ?»???±???‚?µ?»?? ?????????????€???‚?? (a real talker).
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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