It’s That Time of the Year Again: «Сезон гриппа» [Flu Season] Posted by josefina on Oct 23, 2009 in Culture, language, News
And then it’s that time of the year again – «осень» [fall], which equals «сезон гриппа» [flu season] in all countries located in the more northern part of this our splendid globe. The object of our common affection – «Россия» [Russia], officially known as «Российская федерация» [Russian Federation], or why not call it old-school by «Русь» [Rus’], or perhaps keeping it not-so-short and but-oh-so-sweet with the words «территория бывшего Советского союза» [the territory of the former Soviet Union] – is just such a country. A country located «на севере» [in the north]. This year, «этой осенью» [this fall] we «северяне» [northerners; plural form of: «северянин»] have a new flu to be worried about, the so-called «свиний грипп» [swine flu]. In an effort to illustrate how this new threat to public health is dealt with «в русской провинции» [in the Russian province] I will post «два объявления» [two notifications] on the blog today that I’ve photographed in the Russian reality around me.
«Грипп снова диктует вам моду?» [Is the flu telling you (lit. dictating) what to wear (lit. fashion) once again?] «Прививка – лучшее средство для борьбы с гриппом!» [Vaccination – the best way to fight (lit. for a fight) the flu (lit. with the flu)!].
Here we find the interesting verb «диктовать» [impf.: dictate] Perhaps you can see that it shares a common root with the noun «диктатор» [dictator]? And how to use this verb, you might wonder? Well, have a look at this:
You should combine the verb «диктовать» with an indirect subject in dative: «кому?» [lit. to whom?] and the direct object in accusative: «что?» [what?]. Here’s an example of what a sentence might end up looking like:
«Он всегда диктует мне как жить» – [lit. He’s always dictating me how to live, though a better translation would be: ‘He’s always telling me how to live’.]
«Внимание» [Attention]. «Убедительная просьба всем проживающим в общежитии, не желающим прививаться против гриппа, написать отказ на имя ректора в свободной форме и сдать оный заведующей общежитием» [A persuasive request for all those living in the dormitory who do not wish to take the vaccine against the flu to write a refusal to the principle in free form and give it to the manager of the dormitory].
The note above I found hanging on the wall next to the elevator on the first floor in the dormitory where I live yesterday. I didn’t know that all people at our university have to «прививаться» [refl. impfv.: (of a vaccine) to take] against the new «свиний грипп» [swine flu]. Today I read that «Вакциной от нового вида гриппа будет привить каждый третий житель России» [“Every third inhabitant in Russia will be vaccinated against the new type of flu”]. I hope they won’t include foreigners though! I’m very afraid of needles. I think I just might have to sit down and write one of those «отказ на имя ректора в свободной форме» [a refusal to the principle in free form] and try to explain my enormous fear of everything having to do with hospitals in general… You could also make of note of the rare use of the pronoun «оный» which is old and used very rarely in modern Russian. It means «тот» [that] and «тотсамый» [the same] and is made from pronoun «он» [he; it].
New words today – and excellent words to use this season – are as follows:
«грипп» – [flu].
«прививка» – [graft; vaccination, inoculation; jab].
«вакцина» – [vaccine; animal lymph].
But don’t get me wrong – «я же желаю вам всем здоровья!» [I really wish all of you health!]
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Comments:
Emmet:
Very wonderful blog, Josefina!
Just one tiny spelling suggestion:
“flue”=труба (a type of pipe, usually chimney, so воздухоотводная труба).
The word I think you`re looking for:
“Flu” (no “e”), short for “influenza” (грипп),
Keep up the great work!
Ed:
Hi Josefina,
I’m a pharmacotherapy specialist in infectious diseases in the US who has been studying Russian for about 18 months. I’m very involved in treating patients with serious infections, including the flu As always, I enjoy your postings – so instructive and well written. And this is really a timely article considering the recent pandemic. Nice to see the Russian perspective. Keep up the great work.
PS – A “flue” is a tube/duct connected to a fireplace. “flu” is a shortened word for “influenza”. Как будет “flue” по-русски?
Josefina:
Once again I have revealed the embarrasing fact that English is not my native language… Sometimes I think that my Russian is actually way ahead of my English right now – considering that I haven’t studied English for six years (during which I studied Russian instead)… I hope you can forgive me for adding an e to the word flu! I corrected it and as I did I also noticed that I misspelled the word every time I used it in the post… Стыдно!
Ed:
Josephina, please do not be embarrassed. Those of us who make corrections in English can only hope to be as fluent as you in Russian some day! Мы любим твою работу!
Emmet:
seconded!
Colin:
And again! Your blog is a fascinating source of information on contemporary Russian life and absolutely invaluable to those of who struggle to speak the language well. Your English is also of a consistently high standard; many native speakers would make more embarrassing mistakes if they were to write regular blogs 😉
kari:
With the coming flu season and cold weather, I sure would love and greatly appreciate a post that deals with how to politely and effectively fight off the babushkas that invade my private space with their concern over my daughter’s warmth! I tell my husband that just ONE more comment that I am (a bad mom) not dressing my child more enough from Russians in the city and I just may explode! Please help…give some insight and advice on how to handle this diplomatically and patiently. It might make me feel better to just tell them that I believe that germs make us sick and not cold weather.
Josefina:
Kari, I think you might be onto something really good and useful! How about a post named “How To Let Russians Know When Something Is None of Their Business” 😉 Actually, I have to tell you that if those ‘babushkas’ keep getting in your face and telling you how to take care of your child, then you have no other choice but to forget all about politeness and tell them to off. It’s as simple as that. I know that there’s no other way out of it. Unless you let them know – in a clear, perhaps even loud voice – that they have no right what so ever to invade on your private space in this way, you’ll never get them to stop. Because Russians think everything from a simple running nose to cancer is caused by “draft”. And nothing we say can ever convince them that it’s germs. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way – whenever they come around with their advice, I just smile and ignore them silently. And sometimes I add that I’ve lived here for over five years and as of yet I’ve never had a “draft” to anything to me… I hope this was helpful! But yes, a post would be best 🙂 for all the expats out there!
Colin:
Fascinating to discover that Russian babushkas behave the same way as German Omas do. When we lived in Berlin, we were used to elderly ladies poking their noses into our lives and telling us what, or what not, to do with our child. Many Germans also believe that you catch a cold or the flu by being exposed to drafts, and continually used to ask us to close windows and doors to prevent a draft causing illness. The same used to go for ice in drinks by the way, or drinks being consumed straight out of the refrigerator; they were considered unhealthy. The younger generation fortunately don’t seem to share this phobia!
Mohamed:
Vous êtes très généreux, et j’espère qu’on vous le rendra bien. Quand je saurai mieux écrire en russe, je trouverai les mots pour remercier.
Mohamed, Genève