Ужас какой–то... а какой именно? / Sure, it's terrible... but *how* terrible?

[slovami.livejournal.com]

The previous post reminded me of something I've been wondering about. Is тихий ужас a common word combination? Does it have a special meaning? When I broke my leg in Russia, I had this charming conversation with a doctor at a trauma-point:

Doctor (looking at X-rays): Господи!!
Me: "Господи"?
Doctor: УЖАС!
Me: "Ужас"?!?! Какой "ужас"?!?
Doctor: Тихий ужас!

And he left the room without any more explanation. First I thought he was just telling me to be quiet and stop asking questions. Then I thought maybe he meant that it was ужас, but not the worst kind of ужас. So, which is correct?

Спасибо заранее! :)

Comments

[la-dy-ashley.livejournal.com]

It's very common. I don't think ut differs greatly from just ужас? though.

Supposedly it's something that scares you, but doesn't make you cry out in fright but just close your eyes and pray:))

[a-via.livejournal.com]

a common word combination

[zauberer.livejournal.com]

"Тихий ужас" could mean something worse that just "ужас", but it depends on the context. I guess that this "ужас" is "тихий" because it scares so much that nobody can even cry or speak.

[slovami.livejournal.com]

Well, in that case, it wasn't very nice of him to say that!

[2007april.livejournal.com]

Never mind, doctors are often cynical, it helps them in their work. One told that small stress is useful for the patient in some cases. He will be scared after this words but then he will breathe with relief listenning to the real diagnosis which should be lighter then ужас.

It is worse when doctor is keeping silence about the actual state.

[alon_68]

Initially it meant that a person is so scared the he's lost the ability to speak. He's mute and only in his eyes you can see how he's scared. Тихий=молчаливый (silent) here.

But now it's simply common (a little cynical) words combination.

[r-u-t-h.livejournal.com]

Oh, my God! - your doctor said at the first glance to your leg. Hope you feel netter now!
And the тихий ужас in your case seems to be just a funny reply to your funny question about the type of ужас (какой "ужас"?) since we know no other type of ужас. :)
Usually тихий (ужас) means complete, deep, full ужас. I guess we say so because when something frightening is screeming - it is just frightening, and if it keeps silence it seems much more dangerous

[slovami.livejournal.com]

>>And the тихий ужас in your case seems to be just a funny reply to your funny question about the type of ужас (какой "ужас"?) since we know no other type of ужас. :)

That makes me feel a little better about my doctor...

Thank you, my leg is better now, it was actually more than a year ago. :)

[pomidorova-gnus.livejournal.com]

Все верно, я думаю доктор сказал это с ироничным подтекстом. Может быть кто и употребляет это выражение всерьез, но я в своей жизни слышал его только в качестве шутки.

[oryx_and_crake]

Thank you for your contribution. However, I have to remind that the working language of this community is English.

[pomidorova-gnus.livejournal.com]

Oh shit, I thought I'm still on the Leslie's page! Sorry :)

[abiura.livejournal.com]

Come on!!! Don't be such a snob. If it is community for those studing russian, comments in russian is an eccelent opportunity for practice, isn't it?

[oryx_and_crake]

Excuse me, this community has a certain number of rules. And I strongly recommend you to get familiar with them before posting here. When you visit someone, you don't teach your hosts how to behave in their own home, do you?

[abiura.livejournal.com]

Well, actually I do. I am russian. )))))

[oryx_and_crake]

Too bad. I can only remind you of a Russian proverb: "В чужой монастырь со своим уставом не ходят".

[abiura.livejournal.com]

But it is absurd!!! Listen, comunity for people trying to study russian has a rule forbidding people speak russian!!! Where is logic? How was this rule included in the list at all?!!!

[oryx_and_crake]

This community exists for five years. It has not died out and it was not drowned in meaningless flame. People still come here for help and get it. This means that the rules work.

P.S. You are certainly welcome to create your own community with any kind of rules you like.

[abiura.livejournal.com]

I am not asking how long exist the community! I'm not asking whether rules work or not! I'm not asking whether people come here for help or not! I didn't also ask you for advice.

My question was written in the simplest way for you to understand: Where is logic? In which language should I say to get clear reply?

WHY PEOPLE STUDYING RUSSIAN CAN NOT SPEAK RUSSIAN HEAR? PERCHE LE PERSONE CHE STUDIANO RUSSO NON DEVONO PARLARE RUSSO QUI? ПОЧЕМУ ЛЮДИ, КОТОРЫЕ УЧАТ РУССКИЕ НЕ МОГУТ ГОВОРИТЬ ПО-РУССКИ ЗДЕСЬ? WORUM.... ?

I'm not trying to offend someone I just want to understand.

[oryx_and_crake]

Stop yelling. If people come here it means they like the community and it suits them. There are hundreds of Russian-speaking communities in LJ, why create one more? Here, on the other hand, people can ask questions and receive answers in the language they understand.

[bez-temy.livejournal.com]

I agree with those who said тихий ужас is the kind of shock that makes you speachless.

So, the direct meaning of the doctor's phrase would be: "This looks so bad I don't even know what to say".

However, I have never encountered a situation when it was meant seriousy. It has a touch of irony to it. Note that the doctor didn't say "тихий ужас" in the first place, because that would have meant she is taking your situation a bit lightly. She only added "тихий" when you repeated the question, so she used it as an opportunity for a joke (of sorts), a bit of familiar treatment I would say. I guess the equivalent in an American doctor's office would be something like "This is some scary sh*t" (a touch of familiarity, a touch of dark humor - I hope you get what I'm trying to say).

Intuitively, I would say originally this expression was taken from a play, a movie or a monolog, I'll try to find out more...

[slovami.livejournal.com]

Yes, I understand what you mean. :) Thanks!

[bez-temy.livejournal.com]

Hi again!

So far, I have only managed to find an article by Russian expat author Alexander Kuprin that he wrote in 1920. It was titled "Тихий ужас". In the article, he accused the European countries of doing nothing to stop the progress of Bolshevism in Russia. Also, he claimed European newspapers were hypocritical in saying that the speculations of Bolshevist terror were far-fetched, thus turning a blind eye on the violence and bloodshed in Russia.

I can't really say if the phrase was Kuprin's invention, in fact, it could have been used a long time before him. But... at least this article proves that, in the past, "тихий ужас" was used with all seriousness, in a non-ironic context.

[slovami.livejournal.com]

Interesting... thanks for doing the research!

[flameaside.livejournal.com]

he acted in a strange way. I wouldn't expect a doctor to say things like that as I'm lying with a broken leg.)

[kunaifusu.livejournal.com]

He was probably a House M.D. fan.

[firebottle.livejournal.com]

My apologies, if you judge the doctors' work on such serials.
My congratulations, if you know about it only from those serials.

[firebottle.livejournal.com]

That's normal.

[adri-nwnderland.livejournal.com]

ahahahha. My landlady used to say this about my kolonka water heater because it always was wanting to explode. I started saying it all the time despite not knowing what it really meant.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__ee__/]

bravo! best post in this community!

[slovami.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it... it was just by accident. ;)

[slovami.livejournal.com]

What do you mean?

[slovami.livejournal.com]

Right, I thought you meant "meme", but... why is it a meme? :)

[slovami.livejournal.com]

mm, got it. I never thought of language as being meme-ish before, but I guess it is.

[khathi.livejournal.com]

No, it's exactly opposite of what you've thought. "Тихий ужас" is an almost worst kind of "ужас". It means something so terrible, that you can only watch it silently. Well, it's mostly used ironically now, but still it can (and do) mean something rather bad.

[reflexing.livejournal.com]

There is a great website which answer questions: "Is _smth_ common in Russian?"\

It's Russian National Corpus - http://www.ruscorpora.ru/en/index.html
Answer to your question is there: http://search.ruscorpora.ru/search.html?mycorp=&mysent=&mysize=&dpp=&spp=&spd=&t=100&text=lexform&mode=main&sort=gr_tagging&req=%F2%E8%F5%E8%E9+%F3%E6%E0%F1