Moscow Times article
Jun. 25th, 2004 07:58 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
alektoeumenides.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
learn_russianCanine Love in a Dog-Eat-Dog World
By Michele A. Berdy
Собачник/собачница: dog lover.
Russian dog lovers are no less passionate about their pets than their cat-loving cousins. A dog in Russian is собака or пёс. Both words are usually made into a million loving diminutives: собачка, собачонка, пёсик. A pedigreed dog is either породистая or родословная (a pedigree is a родословие, the same word you use to describe a person's illustrious parentage); I've also heard people describe their fancy dogs as клубные (registered in a dog club). A mutt is a дворняжка or дворняга, from the word for courtyard (двор). But folks who love their noble beast despite his dubious bloodlines often pun and call their mixed-breed дворянин, "nobleman," since двор also refers to the royal court.
Breeds have various functions, which Russians take seriously. There are служебные собаки (work dogs, often referring to guard dogs), сторожевые (guard dogs), гончие (racing dogs), охотничьи (hunting dogs), пастушьи (shepherds), норные (burrowers, like dachshunds) or легавые (pointers, setters). The classic Russian breeds include the ethereal борзая (borzoi), who looks two-dimensional, лайка самоедская (Samoyed, who looks like a polar bear), and the московская сторожевая (Moscow guard dog), who looks a bit like a St. Bernard but will take your hand off with one bite. The opposite is болонка, a lap dog.
If you have a pedigreed dog, you might think about continuing the line. In Russian, the words you use are разведение (breeding) or вязка (the process itself; also the word you use for knitting -- go figure). Most of the time the dogs figure it out: You just introduce your bitch (сука) to a handsome sire (кобель) and nature takes care of things. In a couple of months, you have a litter (помёт) of puppies (щенки). If you don't want any puppies, you have to keep your bitch on a leash every once in a while: Мы не спускаем её с поводка -- у неё течка. (We aren't letting her off the leash -- she's in heat.)
To walk your dog is выгуливать: Каждый вечер я час выгуливаю собаку (every evening I walk my dog for an hour). If you run in a park and are plagued by unleashed dogs chasing after you, you can first call out to the owner: Ваша собака кусается (does your dog bite)? If the answer is a smirk and the dog is still coming at you, shout: Держите вашу собаку на поводке (leash your dog)!
The kind of owner who lets his dog chase after hapless joggers needs a дрессировщик (trainer). Not all dogs respond to training. У нас овчарка. Эта порода хорошо поддаётся дрессировке. (We've got a shepherd. This breed is easy to train.) You can also get a trainer to teach your dog tricks. If it's a fancy trick, you can call it трюк -- but this is more like what animals do in the circus. Most of the time Russians say: Посмотри, что она умеет делать! (See what tricks she can do, see what she can do.) Дай лапу (shake hands). Сидеть (sit). Лежать (lie down).
You may not need a trainer, but every dog owner needs a vet: ветеринарный врач. Раз в году врач делает собаке прививки (once a year the vet gives my dog her shots). The vet (or pet store) can also help you with other problems that plague dogs that spend time at the dacha: fleas (блохи) and ticks (клещи). Мы купили ошейник от блох (we bought a flea collar). Врач дал спрей от клещей (the vet gave us some anti-tick spray).
Judging by common expressions, dogs in Russia have, well, a dog's life (собачья жизнь). The adjective from dog -- собачий -- appears as an intensifier in not very pleasant expressions, like собачий холод (freezing cold, literally "dog cold"), чушь собачья (utter nonsense, bull), собачья усталость (being dog-tired). It's also handy to know the expression: Какое твоё собачье дело? (It's none of your damn business!) Two other canine qualities show up in common metaphors: Он был злой, как собака (he was as mean as a junkyard dog); and Он был предан ей, как собака (he was as devoted to her as a dog).
A dog's life indeed.
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
By Michele A. Berdy
Собачник/собачница: dog lover.
Russian dog lovers are no less passionate about their pets than their cat-loving cousins. A dog in Russian is собака or пёс. Both words are usually made into a million loving diminutives: собачка, собачонка, пёсик. A pedigreed dog is either породистая or родословная (a pedigree is a родословие, the same word you use to describe a person's illustrious parentage); I've also heard people describe their fancy dogs as клубные (registered in a dog club). A mutt is a дворняжка or дворняга, from the word for courtyard (двор). But folks who love their noble beast despite his dubious bloodlines often pun and call their mixed-breed дворянин, "nobleman," since двор also refers to the royal court.
Breeds have various functions, which Russians take seriously. There are служебные собаки (work dogs, often referring to guard dogs), сторожевые (guard dogs), гончие (racing dogs), охотничьи (hunting dogs), пастушьи (shepherds), норные (burrowers, like dachshunds) or легавые (pointers, setters). The classic Russian breeds include the ethereal борзая (borzoi), who looks two-dimensional, лайка самоедская (Samoyed, who looks like a polar bear), and the московская сторожевая (Moscow guard dog), who looks a bit like a St. Bernard but will take your hand off with one bite. The opposite is болонка, a lap dog.
If you have a pedigreed dog, you might think about continuing the line. In Russian, the words you use are разведение (breeding) or вязка (the process itself; also the word you use for knitting -- go figure). Most of the time the dogs figure it out: You just introduce your bitch (сука) to a handsome sire (кобель) and nature takes care of things. In a couple of months, you have a litter (помёт) of puppies (щенки). If you don't want any puppies, you have to keep your bitch on a leash every once in a while: Мы не спускаем её с поводка -- у неё течка. (We aren't letting her off the leash -- she's in heat.)
To walk your dog is выгуливать: Каждый вечер я час выгуливаю собаку (every evening I walk my dog for an hour). If you run in a park and are plagued by unleashed dogs chasing after you, you can first call out to the owner: Ваша собака кусается (does your dog bite)? If the answer is a smirk and the dog is still coming at you, shout: Держите вашу собаку на поводке (leash your dog)!
The kind of owner who lets his dog chase after hapless joggers needs a дрессировщик (trainer). Not all dogs respond to training. У нас овчарка. Эта порода хорошо поддаётся дрессировке. (We've got a shepherd. This breed is easy to train.) You can also get a trainer to teach your dog tricks. If it's a fancy trick, you can call it трюк -- but this is more like what animals do in the circus. Most of the time Russians say: Посмотри, что она умеет делать! (See what tricks she can do, see what she can do.) Дай лапу (shake hands). Сидеть (sit). Лежать (lie down).
You may not need a trainer, but every dog owner needs a vet: ветеринарный врач. Раз в году врач делает собаке прививки (once a year the vet gives my dog her shots). The vet (or pet store) can also help you with other problems that plague dogs that spend time at the dacha: fleas (блохи) and ticks (клещи). Мы купили ошейник от блох (we bought a flea collar). Врач дал спрей от клещей (the vet gave us some anti-tick spray).
Judging by common expressions, dogs in Russia have, well, a dog's life (собачья жизнь). The adjective from dog -- собачий -- appears as an intensifier in not very pleasant expressions, like собачий холод (freezing cold, literally "dog cold"), чушь собачья (utter nonsense, bull), собачья усталость (being dog-tired). It's also handy to know the expression: Какое твоё собачье дело? (It's none of your damn business!) Two other canine qualities show up in common metaphors: Он был злой, как собака (he was as mean as a junkyard dog); and Он был предан ей, как собака (he was as devoted to her as a dog).
A dog's life indeed.
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-06-26 05:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-27 11:33 am (UTC)Nope. The word for knitting is вязание. Вязка is strictly "the proccess itself" :) (NOTE: only concerning dogs and cats!:)))
>If the answer is a smirk and the dog is still coming at you
Some 20 years ago, my father used to run in a park holding a steel stick in his hand :) He never used it, but the view itself was enough to the careless dog owners to leash their beasts. You may see that unleashed (and badly trained) disobedient dogs were (and still are) a problem in Moscow (I have nothing to say about other cities.)
>a vet: ветеринарный врач
why make things so complicated? It's ветеринар; ветеринарный врач is probably what's on his/her business card, but nobody says so in real life.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-27 11:30 pm (UTC)You can say about a sweater: your sweater has a beautiful pattern! -'Красивая вязka!'.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-28 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-28 01:57 am (UTC)