Отмороженные

[Sasha Spektor]

I'm sorry to butt in, but "отмороженный" has nothing to do with 1 and very
little with 2, 4, 5.  "Otmorozhennyj" is a person who doesn't understand
simple things and concepts, like human emotions, for example.  And could
possibly commit any cruelty without any special emotional pain.  Someone who
"doesn't get it."

"Aloof," "stand-offish," "reclusive" fit, except that none of these are
slang and don't have the pejorative connotations of "отмороженный."

I would suggest "a psycho," i.e. someone who can do a crazy thing without
understanding its craziness.

Best,
S.

2011/4/15 John Dunn <John.Dunn at glasgow.ac.uk>

> It may not be as simple as that.  Mokienko and Nikitina's Большой словарь
> русского жаргона gives five meanings for отмороженный:
> 1. Хитрый
> 2. Странный
> 3. Глупый, недалекий, неразвитый в эмоциальном и интеллектуальном плане
> 4. Наглый
> 5. Не признающий правил, авторитетов, не боящийся опасности, безрассудный и
> беспощадный
>
> Weird would cover meaning 2 (and was the word that came into my mind when I
> read the original query).  None of these meanings, however, seems to imply
> an unwillingness to socialise, though I dare say that few would wish to
> spend too much time socialising with people displaying some of the above
> characteristics.  Perhaps, as has happened with other жаргон words, the
> meaning has shifted somewhat as the word has gained respectability.
>
> John Dunn.
>  ________________________________________
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [
> SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Paul B. Gallagher [
> paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM]
> Sent: 15 April 2011 00:05
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Отмороженные
>
> ja tu wrote:
>
> > Отмороженный means wierd in English, implying the person does not
> > want to deal or associate with something or somebody. Note: the word
> > мороз comes from Greek. The literal English equivalent for it is
> > morose.
>
> There must be a typo here -- English "weird" has nothing to do with
> отмороженный or with unwillingness to socialize. As used in contemporary
> American English, it's something like странный, непонятный, причудливый,
> фантастический. In the mouth of a person who favors conformity, it can
> be pejorative ("he has some weird ideas so I avoid him"), but for most
> it just means something's off the beaten track, highly unusual or
> different.
>
> What word did you have in mind? "Aloof," "stand-offish," "reclusive"?
>
> --
> 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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