(no subject)

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

I have a quick question about the word "молодежь" - lingvo.yandex.ru gives the definition as "youth, young people". Does this mean that it's only a collective noun referring to youth as a whole, or can it also be applied to a single youth, like the English word "youth" can be?

Comments

[klop.livejournal.com]

It could be applied to a single person ironically.
Привет, молодежь! Hello young man!

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

I love this community. Y'all are so fast. Anyway, thank you for your answer - I used it to refer to a single young man in a test essay, and was worrying that I used it wrong. =)

[nemica.livejournal.com]

I have to say, we don't usually use the word this way. Only ironically as klop mentioned.

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

It was a fairly ironic reference, so I think it's okay. I would have used some more generic word like человек otherwise. =) But I'll see for sure when my professor looks over it.

[klop.livejournal.com]

I must say that this form of address is inherent to senior people and sound a little bit old-fashioned )).

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Normally it is exactly "only a collective noun referring to youth as a whole." The usage mentioned by klop is higly ironic and relatively rare. It is only a salutation, you could not say something like "ко мне пришла молодёжь" meaning a single person - any native speaker would understand this as "several young people came to me". A single person would be "юноша" (young male) or "девушка" (young female). In an abstract sense, the word "молодой" could be used, but more likely when English speakers would probably say "young". For example, the famous late 1980s documentary about the social problems of the youth has been called "Легко ли быть молодым?" ("Is It Easy To Be Young?".)

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

Oh! Thank you. I missed the class that explained this word, so I didn't understand it very well. I didn't realize that it could only be used as a salutation in the singular sense.

I suppose it will only be a couple points off. =)

Hmmm...

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

I've heard people address myself with friends as (no cyrillic, lazy, sorry) "molodoy chelovek"...it's usually older folk though. "Devushka" I've heard, but rarely.

As in England/English, in my experience wandering around town, I've found people tend to avoid any form of address (I mean, how many people in English say "Young man/woman, can you tell me what time it is?").

Just my 2kopeks, as it was something that sprang to mind.

Re: Hmmm...

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Right. I wasn't speaking about the way to address to somebody. Even I call my male students "молодой человек" ("барышня", if it's a girl) from time to time, though I'm not that old :) I was speaking about the way you describe a young person. 3rd person. BTW "молодой человек" / "барышня" could be used this way as well. "Ко мне пришел один молодой человек"... (A young man had come to me...) There is also a more slangish trend to call somebody's boyfriend "мой/её молодой человек" (my/her boyfriend).

Re: Hmmm...

[kahala.livejournal.com]

Rarely? God, when I lived in Russia I was addressed as devushka all the time. All the time.

Maybe I just attracted odd people...

You are more right than you think

[esc.livejournal.com]

Right now, the word 'devushka' in Russia has become the most popular unofficial addressing to a woman of ANY age, if she is same age as you or younger.

Re: Hmmm...

[welgar.livejournal.com]

I think "молодой человек" and "девушка" are the most popular ways to address a boy or a girl aged roughly 18 - 25. "Барышня" is quite rare and either old-fashioned or extremely polite. These words are used for unfamiliar people and you are supposed to use "Вы", not "ты", in the speech.