klikusha

[Svitlana Kobets]

You were absolutely right, Alex, hysteric is the word. This is what David
Powelstock wrote:
A lot would depend on context and tone, but to the extent that
"klikushestvo" is often thought of as pathological (that whole 19th-c. thing
about it as a "female ailment"), "hysteric" might be more appropriate.
"Cackler" strikes me as neither accurate nor idiomatic.  "To cackle" is "to
talk or laugh in a shrill manner" (American Heritage Dict., 3rd edition); I
associate it with the wicked laughter of fairy-tale witches.



According to Ozhegov,

кликуша - женщина, страдающая кликушеством

кликушество - проявление женской истерии, судорожные припадки, причитания,
взвизгивания

Frankly, it's something new for me, because I never thought the term was
gender-specific. However, it's probably 'in a strict sense'. Based on this
sense, some dictionaries suggest:

кликушество -  hysterics
кликуша - hysterical woman

However, it would be interesting to hear suggestions from native speakers.

Alex Ushakov


----- Original Message -----
From: "Svitlana Kobets" <svitlana at TUCOWS.COM>
To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 10:11 PM
Subject: klikusha


> Hello,
> I am looking for an English synonym to the Russian
> "klikusha." Someone suggested that I use "cackler," yet I am not sure. The
> English-Russian dictionary says that cackler is 1. klokhchushchaia ili
> kudakhtaiushchaia ptitsa, 2. boltun, spletnik. For what I know it could be
a
> possible rendition of "klikusha", but I don't know if this rendition has
> ever been in use. Does anyone know?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Svitlana Kobets.
>
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