"gryzt' stakany"

[David Powelstock]

Dear SEELANGers,

I'm translating/adapting Erdman's Samoubiitsa and have come across an
unfamiliar idiom that I cannot find in any of my reference books (Lubensky,
Ozhegov, Dal', Smirnitskii, multitran.ru, Kuznetsov): "gryzt' stakany".

The context in Erdman: "Ona dazhe stakany ot strasti gryzet."
(contemptuously)

The idiom also figures prominently in a Vysotsky song, which begins:

И вкусы и запросы мои странны,
Я экзотичен, мягко говоря...
Могу одновременно грызть стаканы
И Шиллера читать без словаря.

I vkusy I zaprosy moi stranny,
Ia ekzotichen, miagko govoria:
Mogu odnovremenno gryzt' stakany
I Shillera chitat' bez slovaria.

Obviously, the Erdman is the earlier instance.

Can anyone shed some light on the meaning, connotations and tone of this
idiom, especially in Erdman's sentence?

I would be very grateful.

Thanks,
David

David Powelstock
Asst. Prof. of Russian & East European Literatures
Chair, Program in Russian & East European Studies
Brandeis University
GREA, MS 024
Waltham, MA  02454-9110
781.736.3347 (Office)


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