Moscow Times article
Aug. 21st, 2004 11:07 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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learn_russianBit late this week, sorry...
Plain Cheek, Not Turning Other Cheek
By Michele A. Berdy
Какая наглость!: What a nerve! What gall! What cheek!
Hаглость is one of those tricky words in Russian. It's easy to spot, difficult to define and often miserable to translate.
You know what it is when you see it. Наглость is when the guy in the Mercedes 600 SL uses the nanosecond as you switch gears to zip in front of you. Он чуть не подрезал меня! Какая наглость! (He nearly clipped me! The nerve of the guy!) Or it's the co-worker who promises to finish a report before leaving on vacation (a camping trip in the wilds of the Urals, where there is no cellphone coverage) and instead sends a few assorted notes by e-mail -- which you get after he's left the office. Он написал мне: "Я не успел дописать, но мои записки -- гениальные. "ы всё напишешь за выходные." Какая наглость! (He wrote to me: "I didn't finish writing it up, but my notes are brilliant. You'll write it all up over the weekend." What gall!) Or the cheeky date who expects you to pay half the bill for dinner (since you're an American feminist), but also take care of his other needs before the last metro car leaves the station. Он сказал, что мы успеем до закрытия перехода в метро! Десять минут! Какая наглость! (He said we'd have time before they closed the subway passages. Ten minutes! Can you believe the cheek of the guy?)
Наглость is insolence, impudence, gall, brass, balls and sheer chutzpah taken to the nth degree. It can refer to actions, words or manner -- or an infuriating combination of all three. It used to be rare, but now seems to be Moscow's official motto.
In colloquial speech, not only people, but institutions and places can be наглые. Москва стала наглым городом (Moscow has become an in-your-face, obnoxious city). Мой ЖЭК -- самая наглая контора в Москве (my housing office is the rudest office in Moscow).
It can also refer -- sometimes lovingly, sometimes not -- to dogs that beg and cats that steal food from your plate when you aren't looking. Кто украл колбасу со стола? Наглая собака! (Who stole a piece of sausage from the table? You bad dog!)
The person who does this is наглец: Depending on the context and the affront, he is an upstart, a wise guy, a smart aleck or a brassy SOB. Официант -- наглец. Перепутал наши заказы, забыл половину блюд и ещё обиделся на то, что мы мало чаевых оставили! (The waiter was a real SOB. He mixed up our order, forgot half of it and then was offended that we left a small tip!) Он не только приставал ко мне, он ещё меня и обзывал. Наглец! (Not only did he make a pass at me, he called me names on top of it all. What an obnoxious SOB!)
Sometimes it seems that people are just born this way, but according to Russian, you can pick up this nasty trait over the years. The verb is наглеть/обнаглеть. Я с ними больше не буду сотрудничать. --начала платили вовремя, потом -- опаздывали, но извинялись. "еперь просто не платят. Обнаглели! (I'm not going to work for them anymore. First they paid on time, then they were late but apologized. Now they just don't pay. They've really gotten out of hand!)
The problem with people like this is that you can't fight them; they play too dirty. Лучше заплатить им по счёту. " них хватит наглости судиться с тобой за неуплату. (You'd better just pay their bill. They'd have the nerve to take you to court for failure to pay.) In these cases, Russians say: Забудь, как страшный сон (forget about it, like it was a bad dream).
On the other hand, when some наглец blocks your car for an hour in the parking lot, you might do what a Russian cop once suggested to me: Take your darkest red lipstick and write something edifying on the windshield. No permanent damage, but lots of grief for the driver. After all, Russians also say: --ладкая месть (revenge is sweet).
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
Plain Cheek, Not Turning Other Cheek
By Michele A. Berdy
Какая наглость!: What a nerve! What gall! What cheek!
Hаглость is one of those tricky words in Russian. It's easy to spot, difficult to define and often miserable to translate.
You know what it is when you see it. Наглость is when the guy in the Mercedes 600 SL uses the nanosecond as you switch gears to zip in front of you. Он чуть не подрезал меня! Какая наглость! (He nearly clipped me! The nerve of the guy!) Or it's the co-worker who promises to finish a report before leaving on vacation (a camping trip in the wilds of the Urals, where there is no cellphone coverage) and instead sends a few assorted notes by e-mail -- which you get after he's left the office. Он написал мне: "Я не успел дописать, но мои записки -- гениальные. "ы всё напишешь за выходные." Какая наглость! (He wrote to me: "I didn't finish writing it up, but my notes are brilliant. You'll write it all up over the weekend." What gall!) Or the cheeky date who expects you to pay half the bill for dinner (since you're an American feminist), but also take care of his other needs before the last metro car leaves the station. Он сказал, что мы успеем до закрытия перехода в метро! Десять минут! Какая наглость! (He said we'd have time before they closed the subway passages. Ten minutes! Can you believe the cheek of the guy?)
Наглость is insolence, impudence, gall, brass, balls and sheer chutzpah taken to the nth degree. It can refer to actions, words or manner -- or an infuriating combination of all three. It used to be rare, but now seems to be Moscow's official motto.
In colloquial speech, not only people, but institutions and places can be наглые. Москва стала наглым городом (Moscow has become an in-your-face, obnoxious city). Мой ЖЭК -- самая наглая контора в Москве (my housing office is the rudest office in Moscow).
It can also refer -- sometimes lovingly, sometimes not -- to dogs that beg and cats that steal food from your plate when you aren't looking. Кто украл колбасу со стола? Наглая собака! (Who stole a piece of sausage from the table? You bad dog!)
The person who does this is наглец: Depending on the context and the affront, he is an upstart, a wise guy, a smart aleck or a brassy SOB. Официант -- наглец. Перепутал наши заказы, забыл половину блюд и ещё обиделся на то, что мы мало чаевых оставили! (The waiter was a real SOB. He mixed up our order, forgot half of it and then was offended that we left a small tip!) Он не только приставал ко мне, он ещё меня и обзывал. Наглец! (Not only did he make a pass at me, he called me names on top of it all. What an obnoxious SOB!)
Sometimes it seems that people are just born this way, but according to Russian, you can pick up this nasty trait over the years. The verb is наглеть/обнаглеть. Я с ними больше не буду сотрудничать. --начала платили вовремя, потом -- опаздывали, но извинялись. "еперь просто не платят. Обнаглели! (I'm not going to work for them anymore. First they paid on time, then they were late but apologized. Now they just don't pay. They've really gotten out of hand!)
The problem with people like this is that you can't fight them; they play too dirty. Лучше заплатить им по счёту. " них хватит наглости судиться с тобой за неуплату. (You'd better just pay their bill. They'd have the nerve to take you to court for failure to pay.) In these cases, Russians say: Забудь, как страшный сон (forget about it, like it was a bad dream).
On the other hand, when some наглец blocks your car for an hour in the parking lot, you might do what a Russian cop once suggested to me: Take your darkest red lipstick and write something edifying on the windshield. No permanent damage, but lots of grief for the driver. After all, Russians also say: --ладкая месть (revenge is sweet).
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-21 03:34 am (UTC)(two capital letters were omitted)
Лучше заплатить им по счёту. С них хватит наглости судиться с тобой за неуплату.
(capital С was omitted)
Cладкая месть
(the same)
Kids sometimes say "наглёж" instead of "наглость" - in the cases when English speakers say "that was rude!" or "th, that was nice!" - but it's just slang... I just know that the slang is dearly beloved here :))
no subject
Date: 2004-08-21 10:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-21 11:54 pm (UTC)