пятый угол

[Sarah Hurst]

Very interesting, Paul!

For the businesses (I see at least one hotel is called this), the term
"Hideaway" might be appropriate in English; for the fight or the chess game,
maybe a "safe house".

Sarah Hurst

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Paul B. Gallagher
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 8:59 PM
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] пятый угол

Sarah Hurst wrote:

> Thanks - just to explain, I'm talking about chess again - someone is
seeking
> a пятый угол in a game of chess. 

These sites define "пятый угол" identically as "безопасное место при 
скандале или драке":
<http://saraktash.ru/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=74>
<http://escort-region.nm.ru/jargon.htm>
<http://www.doronchenko.ru/2007/04/05/slovar_perevodchik__fenya__russkiy_.ht
ml>
<http://www.zapretka.boom.ru/slovar.html>
<http://www.compromat.ru/main/mafiamsk/turma12.htm>
<http://www.bratok.com/dictionary/dict_16.html>
<http://www.peace-da.sitecity.ru/stext_0409154344.phtml>
<http://80.71.214.88/jumorcontent%5Ctyurma.htm>
<http://www.faces.md/details.php?id=54677>

This criminal jargon glossary defines "искать пятый угол" as "быть 
избитым" while agreeing that "пятый угол" is "безопасное место при 
скандале или драке":
<http://yurpsy.by.ru/biblio/alex/06.htm>

See the similar usage here in a description of a child with hidden minor 
brain damage:
<http://adalin.mospsy.ru/l_02_00/l_02_11a.shtml>
... Когда он ест, то истыкивает всю пищу ложкой, выбрасывает ее из 
тарелки на стол. Он груб и агрессивен с животными, весь исцарапан 
кошкой, а собака ищет от него <пятый угол>. Подрастая, он агрессивен по 
отношению к детям, особенно к тем, кто младше или слабее, и к бабушке.

These define "пятый угол" simply as "безопасное место":
<http://mirslovarei.com/content_jar/Pjatyj-Ugol-5008.html>
<http://allk.ru/book/45/346.html>
<http://www.i-u.ru/biblio/forsp.aspx?dictid=17&word=%cf%ff%f2%fb%e9+%d3%e3%e
e%eb>
<http://lib.web-malina.com/getbook.php?bid=176>

But this one defines "искать пятый угол" as "мучаться скукой, бездельем, 
ничегонеделаньем"
<http://aikido.bugeisha.ru/misc/files/988872907mat.htm>
If you can't reach it, try google's cache:
<http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:PaV8HmOzYh4J:aikido.bugeisha.ru/misc/f
iles/988872907mat.htm+%22%D0%BF%D1%8F%D1%82%D1%8B%D0%B9+%D1%83%D0%B3%D0%BE%D
0%BB%22+%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us>
Fair warning: very salty language at this site.
Attention Steve Marder! This is a glossary worth looking at.

I've also seen some cases where it seems to mean "a wild goose" -- 
something sought but never found. Compare the "snipe hunt" on one 
episode of /Cheers/. And in this general direction, some businesses seem 
to have chosen "пятый угол" as their name in the sense of something so 
rare that it is special and precious.

Finally, consider this:
<http://www.wciom.ru/arkhiv/tematicheskii-arkhiv/item/single/875.html>
Мы по традиции, как пятый угол, ищем некий <третий путь>, ...

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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