Fortochka

[Steve Marder]

>Unlike форточка, "quarter window" brings nothing to mind, so I can't say
>that's a satisfactory translation for me.
>
>It's fortuitous that this subject should come up because we just covered
>apartments in class this week, and how can you discuss Russian realia
>without reference to the fortochka (or college students using the window
>as
>a refrigerator)?  In the end, that's how I left it because there is
>nothing
>similar to that I comes to mind in American realia.  If I had to translate
>it, I think I would call it the little window that Russians use to cool
>the
>room.
>
>In that regard, I should add that форточка has a second, metaphorical
>meaning in chess.  In chess "форточка" is to prophylactically create an
>escape route for your castled king, usually with the move of h2-h3 or
>h7-h6.
> In English we call this "luft" (!) (великий могучий).  ;-)
>
>C. Mills
>Pacific Grove


Are we looking for other meanings for "fortochka"? If so, then there is
its (limited?) usage in the computer sense of "pane" when denoting one or
other defined area of a split screen.

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