здорово

[ammaelis.livejournal.com]

здорово

used as a greeting, it seems to be quite popular among young people, but i've seen no mention of it in any of my slang books or usage guides

is it current and trendy, neutral, hopelessly passé or what?

also, where does the stress fall? здОрово или здорОво

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

The greeting is здорОво. There is also здОрово which is also colloquial and means "cool!" or "nice!"

[crashonthelevee.livejournal.com]

I'd say it's rather passe. At least nobody I know uses it.

[baby-rhino.livejournal.com]

Where do you live and how old are you? I'm 22 and live in Moscow, and we all use it )))

[gordin.livejournal.com]

21, Saint-Petesrburg, +1

[crashonthelevee.livejournal.com]

erm... I'm 32 and I live in St. Petersburg... generation gap or something :)))

[gordin.livejournal.com]

Well, I just found a 30+ who uses the word - http://gordin.livejournal.com/568703.html?thread=4994431

[crashonthelevee.livejournal.com]

geographical gap then :-) I mean really, this is something I would never think of using myself, nor my friends would use it.

[gordin.livejournal.com]

Well, you can follow comments to my post - more and more people assure me I'm not the only one using it. :)

[cassandraclue.livejournal.com]

in st. petersburg i hear здОрово all the time, from 20s and early thirties :)))

[gordin.livejournal.com]

We're talking about the other word here, здорОво. :)
At least I am.

[g-l-k.livejournal.com]

hey, not as a GREEGTING?:)
I've been to St. Pete's:))

[baby-rhino.livejournal.com]

Yeah, most probably :))) Cause my friend from Saint-Petersburg who is 23 also uses it :))

[spiritrc.livejournal.com]

I'm 30, Moscow, and I use 'здорОво' to greet my old school friends. I wouldn't use it on anyone I don't know as good as them.

[spiegelland.livejournal.com]

If used as a greeting, the stress falls on здорОво [zda'rova] = "hi", "hey", "hello" etc
As a rule, this form of greeting is common among friends, but in my opinion it's not that popular nowadays (I can be wrong though as i live in Estonia where russians have a bit different slang).

If stress falls on здОрово ['zdo'rava], the meaning would be "great!", "super!" etc. This one is used pretty widely. But I wouldn't use it while talking to superior :-)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

It's not exactly passé; unlike the author of the previous comment, I did hear people use it; however, you can easily find it in 19th century prose as well. It's "literate colloquial," that's what it is: it was much more colloquial 120 years ago, but now it is a bit dated, and if you use it, you most certainly stylize your speech after the "old-time" Russian speech -- well, you most certainly say not just "здорово", but "здорово, отцы!" (hello fathers!) -- which is also a famous quotation from the great "White Sun of the Desert" movie.

[la-sincerite.livejournal.com]

hm, i don't agree with you in one point. I think, we say this not to sound as in "old-time" but to show oneself as a worker (not white-colar or smth similar), applying to a his peer.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, I'd even say a redneck :) Yes, you're right. In the narrow literate circles, though, it also has the flavor of "dear old time" -- you know, classic Soviet movies, brave and intelligent military men, stout sober kolkhozniks, honest able-bodied industrious factory workers, wise and strict Party officials, all that stuff :)

[spiritrc.livejournal.com]

I remember a verse from my childhood (early 80's) where the word 'здорово' was shown as a bad word to use for greetings.
I don't remember the author of the verse and can't find it on the net, but it was about some animals coming somewhere where they had to use a "вежливое слово" as a passkey greeting. They all came and greeted the guard with various polite greetings and then came a bear (usually treated in Russian folklore as a dumb, rude and cumbersome being) and said: "Вот моё 'здорово' - вежливое слово". That's they only phrase I remember from that verse. He was then put to shame and told that 'здорово' isn't a "вежливое слово".

:))))

[gordin.livejournal.com]

Just to add: I, personally, use the word every now and then to greet friends. Wouldn't use it, though, with older people, professors et c.

Also, I'd say it's not just 'old-style', it wasn't used by nobility or educated people much, but the villagers would use it and so it sounds 'simple', easy-going, not high-brow in any sort of way.

[g-l-k.livejournal.com]

slight addition if I may.
I do agree with you, but I'd rather say you ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT use this with older people nor people you're not well acquainted with.

[g-l-k.livejournal.com]

hi, здорОво is a valid greeting in Russia today. Please remember it's really informal, you can only use it to greet people you're on very friendly terms with!