Linguistic Highlights of the Putin Presidency. By Michele A. Berdy.

[Elena Gapova]

> Friday, May 14, 2004. Page 7.
>
> Linguistic Highlights of the Putin Presidency
>
> By Michele A. Berdy
>
> Надо исполнить закон всегда, а не только тогда, когда схватили за одно
> место: You have to obey the law all the time, not just when they've got
you
> by the short and curlies.
> History will judge Vladimir Putin's presidency, but judging by a new
book --
> Путинки: Краткий сборник изречений президента (Putinki: A Short Collection
> of the President's Sayings) -- we can say one thing for certain: Putin has
> revolutionized the language of the Russian presidency.
>
> His are not the folksy inaccuracies of Mikhail Gorbachev (ложьте for
> положите), the verbal tics of Boris Yeltsin (Понимаешь? You know?) or the
> malapropisms of Viktor Chernomyrdin (Мы всегда можем уметь -- We can
always
> be able). And it's not that Putin's speech is crude (though it can be
> salty), street-tough (though cop-talk sneaks in) or inappropriate (though
it
> comes close). But it is plain-talking, straight, down-to-earth Russian. He
> calls it like he sees it.
>
> Take this comment about Russian participation in Iraq: В ответ на
> предложение, чтобы российские военнослужащие сейчас приняли участие в
> операции в Ираке, так и хочется сказать: нашли дураков. (In response to
the
> proposal that Russian armed forces take part in operations in Iraq, you
want
> to say -- right, like we're that stupid.) Or one of his many comments
> directed at the oligarchs: Все должны раз и навсегда для себя понять --
надо
> исполнять закон всегда, а не только тогда, когда схватили за одно место.
> (Everyone has to understand once and for all that you have to obey the law
> all the time, not just when they've got you by the short and curlies.) Or
> his comments on criminals: Когда смотришь на это, кажется, что своими
руками
> задушил [преступников]. Но это эмоции. (When you see all that, you feel
like
> you could strangle the criminals. But that's just emotion talking.) Or on
> terrorists: Когда Буш говорит о Бен Ладене как "о злодее" -- он очень
> интеллигентно выражается. У меня другие определения. Но я не могу их
> использовать в средствах массовой информации. (When Bush calls bin Laden a
> villain, he's speaking very properly. I'd use other words. But I can't use
> them in the mass media.)
>
> He's clear about Russia's position in the world: Россия не стоит с
> протянутой рукой и ни у кого ничего не просит. (Russia is not standing
> around with its hand outstretched; we're not asking anyone for anything.)
Or
> more poetically: Она [Россия] как птица, будет хорошо летать, если будет
> опираться на два крыла [Европа и Азия]. (Russia is like a bird; she'll fly
> well if she is supported by two wings [Europe and Asia].) Or more
logically:
> Если мозги утекают, значит они есть. Уже хорошо. Значит они высокого
> качества, иначе они никому не были бы нужны и не утекали. (If there is a
> brain drain, it means there are brains here. That's a good start. It means
> that they are high-quality or else no one would want them and there would
be
> no brain drain.)
>
> And he's not afraid to call Russia on some of its failings: У нас
старинная
> русская забава -- поиск виновных. (We have an old Russian pastime: search
> for the guilty.) Neither is he afraid to admit to some of the temptations
he
> experiences as president: Не могу выйти за рамки Конституции России, но
> иногда очень хочется. (I can't operate outside of the framework of the
> Russian Constitution, although sometimes I'd really like to.) Самое
> простое -- махать шашкой, рубить головы и выглядеть на этом фоне крутым
> руководителем. (The easiest thing to do is rattle your saber, cut off some
> heads and look like a tough-guy leader.)
>
> Nor does he spare his former co-workers: Спецслужбы не должны совать свой
> нос в гражданское общество. (The secret services shouldn't stick their
nose
> into civil society.)
>
> Why does this go down so well? My theory is that he owes his great
> popularity with the Russian public to the way he speaks. He's the first
> Russian president who sounds like the guy next door.
>
>
> Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------