Verbs Take a Holiday

During my lifetime the Russian language измени́лся до неузнава́емости (has changed beyond recognition). And not always for the better (не всегда́ к лу́чшему).

I could demonstrate this in many ways, but for now I will share five verbs that have changed their употребле́ние (usage).

First there is the verb зажига́ть (to light). It is typically перехо́дный (transitive), meaning it demands a direct object (прямо́е дополне́ние). We light a fire (ого́нь) or a candle (свечу́). But our yellow-tinged press has given зажига́ть (and its near synonym отжига́ть) a неперехо́дный (intransitive) meaning: “to rock, or to shake it up” (e.g. at a disco or party). It is used in the past tense (он зажёг, отжёг) and in the present: мы жжём (we are rocking it).

Respectable papers or magazines still write “зажига́ть” and its new derivatives in quotation marks to underscore that this is not yet a standard usage. But others – like, say, Kommersant, don’t bother. So Mayakovsky’s famous romantic line, “Е́сли звёзды зажига́ют, зна́чит э́то кому́-нибу́дь ну́жно” (“If they light the stars, it must be because it is useful to someone”) now reads, “If stars (e.g. in showbiz) rock it, it is because it is useful to someone.” And don’t get me started about the classic Pushkin line, “Глаго́лом жги сердца́ люде́й” (“Light people’s hearts with your words”). In modern Russian I guess they would just cut the heart out and say something like “Глаго́лом жги” (“Rock it with your verb”). Alexander Sergeyevich переверну́лся бы в гробу́ (would roll over in his grave).

The second example is заказа́ть, to order. As your venerable Russian textbooks taught you, you can заказа́ть у́жин в рестора́не (order dinner in a restaurant). But this, to paraphrase Ilf and Petrov, was до наступле́ния эпо́хи ди́кого росси́йского капитали́зма (prior to the advent of the epoch of wild Russian capitalism). Now if you meet the phrase “его́ заказа́ли,” it means that someone ordered a заказно́е уби́йство (contract killing) on the poor fellow. Почу́вствуйте ра́зницу (feel the difference) as our idiotic TV commercials advise.

My third example also relates to ordering. When you are done eating your meal at a restaurant, forget the phrase “Принеси́те счёт, пожа́луйста.” That’s old school. Today, some under-30s may say “Посчита́йте нам” (literally, “calculate it for us”), which is reasonably decent Russian. But too many instead say “Поcчитайте нас” (“calculate us”) which is linguistically incorrect. But perhaps for that very reason it sounds кру́то (cool).

The fourth verb also relates to money. Time was, торгова́ться was a reflexive (возвра́тный) verb that meant “to haggle.” But now it simply means to “sell” or “trade” something and has lost its reflexiveness, ничего́ не попи́шешь (there’s nothing to be done about it). So “а́кции торгу́ются на би́рже” doesn’t mean “shares are haggling amongst themselves on the exchange” but that they are being sold or traded there.

I left my favorite verb usurpation for dessert: отдыха́ть (to rest) now suggests more than meets the non-native eye. It is apparently not just about о́тпуск (vacation) or конституцио́нное пра́во на о́тдых (the constitutional right to leisure) anymore. If, for instance, you say that Russian-made natural products (e.g. honey) are so good that америка́нский мёд отдыха́ет, it means American honey “pales in comparison,” or “cannot compare” to the Russian.

Andrei Plakhov, in his reportage from the Venice Film Festival for Kommersant, titled his review of the [self-explanatory] film Gerontophilia (which he felt was one of the best on offer there), “Педофилы отдыха́ют.” With this, he didn’t mean to say that педофилы were “having a rest” or are “taking a vacation.” No, he concluded that pedophiles are no longer a круто́й subject to “заже́чь.” Or – more grammatically correct – to заже́чь аудито́рию (“provoke the audience”). Pedophiles can’t hold a candle, so to speak, to gerontophiles. Apparently, avant garde topics хорошо́ торгу́ются (“sell well”).

How this crazy world has changed! До неузнава́емости! Sodom and Gomorrah отдыха́ют…