Have you had a power outage lately? If you have, then you probably have a story to share about living by candlelight and having to grill all those hamburgers you had in the freezer. Would you like to know how say all that in Russian?

First thing first, let’s start with “power outage”. You might say there was авария в электросети (lit: breakdown in the electrical grid) or отключение электроэнергии (lit: electricity shut off). For example,

Сегодня у нас отключилось электричество (Today we’ve had our electrical power shut off)
Пиво есть, но тёплое из-за аварии в электросети (There’s beer, but it’s warm [because of] the breakdown in the electrical grid)

If you are not sure whether it’s a power outage or just перегоревшие (burnt out) пробки (here: fuses), check your электрический щиток (fuse box). I once выставила себя полной дурой (made a total fool of myself) when I tried to persuade the power company we had a power outage on our street. Since then I learned to first переключить предохранитель (toggle the circuit breaker) before calling in with a complaint. Another good idea might be спросить соседей (to ask the neighbors) “у вас есть свет?” (lit: do you have light?)

By the way, электричество (electricity) is a long word. Maybe because of that or because the absence of электрическое освещение (electrical lighting) makes the most impact on us, in Russian we sometimes use the word свет (light) to mean “electricity”. So we would ask

У вас есть свет? meaning “is your electricity on?”

Or would say

Во дворе рабочие что-то ремонтируют и мы уже пол-дня сидим без света (Workers are repairing something in the yard and we’ve had no power for half a day already)

No electricity means that лампочки не светят (light bulbs don’t glow), холодильник не охлаждает (refrigerator doesn’t keep cold), электрическая плита не готовит (electrical stove does not cook), мобильный телефон не заряжается (mobile phone doesn’t charge), компьютер не подключается к Интернету (computer doesn’t connect to Internet) and возникает масса неудобств (lots of inconveniences arise).

But, as the saying goes, в любом свинстве можно найти кусочек ветчины (when life gives you lemons, make lemonade; lit: there’s a bit of ham in every piggish circumstance). As long as you have свечи (candles), фонарики (flashlights), гриль (a grill) and консервы (canned food), you can хорошо провести время (have a good time). As another saying goes, с милым рай и в шалаше (love makes a hovel a castle).

Once авария устранена (the breakdown is repaired) and всё снова войдёт в свою колею (everything will return to normal), we can look at some popular English expressions with the word “power” and their Russian translations:

Power up – усилить мощность, привести в действие, включить
Power down – ослабить, выключить

Power play – демонстрация силы, but also ability to influence the events находясь в большинстве (by holding the majority): На словах государство поддерживает диалог, а на деле постоянно прибегает к демонстрации силы (In word, the government supports dialogue, yet in deed it constantly resorts to power play)

Power structure – режим, иерархия

Power struggle – борьба за власть as in this news В Ватикане идёт ожесточённая борьба за власть (Fierce power struggle is going on in Vatican)

Power broker – политический воротила, “серый кардинал” (lit. the grey cardinal) as in Сурков станет в правительстве России “серым кардиналом” (Vladimir Surkov will become the grey cardinal of Russian government)

Power elite – элита, обладающая реальной властью, политическая элита as in this article’s title Наша политическая элита – не мыслители и не воины, а официанты (Our political elite are neither thinkers nor warriors, but waiters)

Abuse of power – злоупотребление властью as in Суд признал всех пятерых виновными в злоупотреблении властью (Court convicted all five of abuse of power)

What other phrases and expressions that use the word “power” can you think of and how would you translate them into Russian?