?????????‚?€?°?????‹?? ?°???µ???‚: spy
I never thought I'd write a column about the word ?°???µ???‚ (agent). What's there to write?
Both ?°???µ???‚ and agent come originally from the Latin, although ?°???µ???‚ probably entered Russian later than it entered English. Both ?°???µ???‚ and agent share pretty much the same range of meanings. ?????µ???‚ might be a representative of an organization or person who is empowered to act for them, like ???‚?€?°?…???????? ?°???µ???‚ (insurance agent) or ?»???‚?µ?€?°?‚???€???‹?? ?°???µ???‚ (literary agent).
Or ?°???µ???‚ might be a substance that causes some kind of change, like ?°???‚???????‹?? ?°???µ???‚ (active agent) in a chemical process. And then ?°???µ???‚ might be a spy, like ?????????????? ?°???µ???‚ (double agent). Interestingly, a dictionary from the 1930s lists the last meaning as ?€?°?·?????????€?????µ, ?????‚?°?€?µ?????µ?µ (colloquial, archaic). My, how things change.
But still — so far, so good. For once, the two languages are in perfect harmony.
And then in its recent legislative bacchanalia, the Russian parliament proposed that the term ?????????‚?€?°?????‹?? ?°???µ???‚ (foreign agent) be used to identify any nongovernmental organization in Russia that receives foreign funding, insisting that this is a direct translation of the U.S. designation "foreign agent."
And with that, harmony went out the window.
First, in the United States, "foreign agent" has a very specific legal meaning when applied to an organization or person, and the term is generally not applied to nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign funding. Those are simply called "really lucky."
And then "foreign agent" is a bit of a connotational chameleon in English. In some contexts, the term might be quite neutral, simply describing someone acting on behalf of a foreign entity. At the other end of the spectrum, in a John Le Carre novel, "foreign agent" would be short for "foreign intelligence agent" and a very bad person indeed.
But in Russian, ?????????‚?€?°?????‹?? ?°???µ???‚ is pretty much always just a synonym for "spy." ???€???·???°??????, ?‡?‚?? ?‚?‹ ?????????‚?€?°?????‹?? ?°???µ???‚ (Admit that you're a spy).
So, in the United States, sticking "foreign agent" on the publications of the Russian Interest Lobbying Group (I made that up) means they were produced on behalf of the Russian government. But in Russia, sticking ?????????‚?€?°?????‹?? ?°???µ???‚ on the site of the organization ???µ?????€???°?» (Memorial; I didn't make that up) means that it's a den of foreign spies.
As they say in Odessa: ?”???µ ?±???»???????µ ?€?°?·?????†?‹ (literally "that's two big differences," something like, "That's a whole other kettle of kasha.").
I say: Why use a calque from the English and obfuscate? If the folks in the State Duma think they're spies, well then, ???°?·???°?‚?? ???… ???????????? ?????µ???°???? (call a spade a spade).
They could make foreign-funded NGOs put a banner on their sites that reads: ???‹ — ???€?µ?????‚?°?????‚?µ?»?? ?????????‚?€?°?????????? ???????????°?€???‚???° (We're representatives of a foreign state). Or: ???‹ — ???????»?????????‡?µ?????‹?µ ?????????‚?€?°?????????? ???????????°?€???‚???° (We're the authorized representatives of a foreign state). Or: ???‹ — ???????µ?€?µ?????‹?µ ?????????‚?€?°?????????? ???????????°?€???‚???° (We're acting on behalf of a foreign state).
If that's too genteel, how about: ???‹ — ???????????‹! (We're spies!) Or: ???‹ — ?€?°?·???µ???‡??????! (We're intelligence agents!) Or: ???‹ — ???€???‚?‹! (We're moles!)
Or, alternatively, Russia could just borrow U.S. legislation. My favorite is a law that "requires registration of persons who have knowledge of or have received instruction or assignment in espionage, counterespionage or sabotage service or tactics of a foreign country or political party."
I wonder if you can register online.
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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