'kushat''

[Renee Stillings]

I agree with Peter. In casual conversation, I almost invariably hear
"kushat". It is a little out of place in a formal business meeting perhaps,
but otherwise, sounds a lot more natural than "est". I was actually a bit
disappointed that I hadn't learned this word (i.e. in my Russian courses)
before I went to Russia, given how prevalent it is. Same thing goes for
saying "budesh" instead of "khochesh"...we spend endless hours studying
formal vs. informal in Russian anyway, why not at least cover the
fundamentals regarding something we have to do every day--eat.

Renee

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Merrill" <pmerrill at ANDOVER.EDU>
To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2001 10:34 PM
Subject: Re: 'kushat''


> I think it's simply conversational and essentially universal. I was
> at a fencing tournament today and wound up translating for the
> organizers and when I went to look for one of the Russian fencers, I
> was told by a 23-year old: Ona poshla pokushat'.  I'll be curious to
> hear what others say about this. I don't think that it is either
> substandard or dialectal now.
> Best,
> Peter Merrill
>
> >Hello all. My question is: What is the sphere of usage and the 'status'
> >of the verb 'kushat''? I have an emigre student who uses it instead of
> >est', zavtrakat', etc., for example, when I ask the students what they
> >did yesterday. Is it colloquial? Substandard? Dialectal?
> >     Thanks!
> >     Emily Tall
> >
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> --
> Peter Merrill
> Phillips Academy
> Andover, MA 01810
>
> pmerrill at andover.edu
>
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