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What better way to return to blogging than to tell of a recent embarrassing language blunder I made?
Not too long ago I wrote about Russian slang used to excuse oneself to the restroom. I included there the phrase, “???? ??????” because I’ve heard it used by several people.
A few weeks ago, while at the birthday party of a friend’s father, I accidentally found out the other meaning of this phrase and, in doing so, provided some humor for the Russians around me.
After a huge meal that included a few too many long-winded toasts, the guests dispersed throughout the tiny apartment and began separate conversations. The diverse backgrounds and ages of the company made for some interesting discussion, so I was enjoying the party. Soon nature called and I tried to nonchalantly duck out for a minute.
-?? ??????? ??? ???
(What, are you leaving?)
- ?? ???, ? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? ???????. . .
(Nah, I’m just going over to the left for a minute. . .)
Now, if you know Russian well you probably knew where this was going from the start. If you don’t know Russian, I’ll explain. Basically, when I wrote this phrase down in my little notebook I should have paid attention to the gender of the speakers. That’s where the difference lies.
The idiom apparently comes from the fact that the women’s restroom is on the left and then men’s room is on the right. It’s fine for a woman to excuse herself this way. When a man says this, however, it takes on a different meaning. To put it plainly, it means that he is going to visit his lover or a prostitute.
The absurdity of this coming from my mouth made it all the more funny to my friends and they still remind me of it from time to time.
Anyone else out there have any language blunder stories they want to share? Post ‘em in the comments if you feel like it.
Responses to “???? ??????”
September 23rd, 2004 at 1:15 pm
Dear restless wanderer,
Just a quick note to let you know that “nalevo” is usually spelled as one word.
The etymology of the phrase is somewhat shady, but I doubt it originated from the location of man’s bathroom (primarily due to the fact that I have never heard anyone use it in the lavatorial context before). I’m sure you’d be able to dig out some references to prove your point, and I wil hapilly stand corrected.
All best,
Amphetamine
September 23rd, 2004 at 9:45 pm
A while ago, I worked at a gas station to have some extra spending money. A Mexican lady that spoke no English came in, wondering why the pump wouldn’t work. I explained to her that they needed to pay first before I could turn the pump on. The verb I used for “to turn on,” however, was encender.
After I thought about it a minute, I realized that I had just told the lady that she had to pay me to light the pump on fire.
September 24th, 2004 at 9:13 am
Dobry den’, uvazhaemy restless wanderer.
Proshu izvinit za nemaloye kolichestvo raznoobraznyh opechatok v original comment. Byl vdryzg pyan, soznayu svoyu oshibku, vot tolko ispravit ne mogu (v otlichie ot Vas).
Vsegda Vash,
Amphetamine
September 24th, 2004 at 3:44 pm
But ???? ?????? is almost never taken to mean “to go powder one’s nose” in modern Russian, and almost always (as ?????? ??????), to refer to adulterous fun. And these days it’s not limited to males… so you were bound to be misunderstood.
September 27th, 2004 at 8:49 am
Heh. . . Bound to be misunderstood. The story of my life.
I’m really going to have to stop by Moscow International University soon and tell Izolda, my old Russian grammar instructor, about all of this. Perhaps this second rare meaning of ‘?????? ?? ????’ is from an older generation. Or maybe I was just completely out of it the day I wrote that down. Still, I distinctly remember the story she told it in. . .
Justin and Jordan, those are great stories. I think my favorite one of all happened with an expat friend of mine here in Moscow. He jokes that one of his reasons for coming to Moscow is to provide humor for Russians with his struggles with the Russian language. I’ve heard him share this story with large audiences before, so I don’t think he minds if I retell it here:
He was in a supermarket buying meat once and he only knew a handful of Russian words at the time. Luckily, he knew the word for what he was looking for. He scanned the deli case for govyadina (beef) and found it without a problem. Right next to it he saw a sign that said farsh. This was a new word for my friend, but he assumed it was a quasi-cognate for the English word ‘fresh’. In reality, the word means ground beef.
Soon after this he was in a bakery buying some bread. As he picked up a loaf to buy it, he noticed that it was still warm. Smiling he held up the bread and remarked to the cashier, “Mmmm. Farsh.”
October 14th, 2004 at 6:26 am
Tom, that’s a great story! I’m glad to see that your website is finally up. I miss you and everyon there in Moscow lots!
February 16th, 2005 at 3:55 am
My first time in Russia I was trying to compliment a little girl on her hat (kiepka), but accidently said that I liked her shovel (kopka)! She just gave me this blank stare and never even laughed about it, even after I corrected myself…
September 22nd, 2004 at 4:40 pm
I have quite a list of whizbangers from my year in Germany, but one of my favorites occured while having dinner with a German family I knew. They were talking about how common obesity in America is and wanted to know my opinion. I, meaning to say, “Es gibt viele dicke Leute in Amerika,” (There are many overweight people in America), exhanged the word “dicke” with “fettig.” My sentence basically changed to “There are many greasy people (as in people covered in chicken fat) in America.”