{"id":121,"date":"2008-04-17T03:04:30","date_gmt":"2008-04-17T07:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=121"},"modified":"2014-07-16T17:39:31","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T17:39:31","slug":"random-russian-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/random-russian-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Russian Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

For some reason whenever I\u2019m searching for some interesting piece of news from the \u0412\u0435\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0430\u044f \u0420\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0430<\/strong> [Great Motherland] to comment on here, there\u2019s nothing even remotely interesting to be found on any of the many abundant Russian news sites. I\u2019m not just trying to find a news story to comment on in a purely \u2018journalistic\u2019 way, no, my goal is more of a linguistic one \u2013 the articles have to contain at least one good sentence from a Russian grammatical point of view. Just like in most countries today, Russian journalists aren\u2019t always that concerned with remarkable grammar or skilled stylistics, but prefer to write simple, dry sentences without any of that juicy use of cases or imperfect\/perfect verbs or impersonal constructions. While surfing \u041a\u043e\u043c\u0441\u043e\u043c\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f \u041f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0434\u0430<\/strong><\/a> [which has an amazing website on which you can choose your city or region, and after that get almost nothing but local news \u2013 but if you don\u2019t have an uncle living in Penza or friends in Ulan-Ude, you should pick the capitol\u2026 if you think you can handle all the gossip about Russian stars that cover the pages of the weekly paper] I came across this headline: \u0413\u043e\u043c\u043e\u0441\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0443\u0430\u043b\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0432 \u0421\u043e\u0434\u043e\u043c\u0430 \u0438 \u0413\u043e\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0440\u044b \u0443\u0431\u0438\u043b\u043e \u0430\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043e\u0438\u0434\u043e\u043c?<\/a><\/strong> [Were the homosexuals of Sodom and Gomorra killed by an asteroid?] Of course the article, though perhaps worth a quick glance nevertheless, is, as the Russians would say, \u043f\u043e\u043b\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0447\u0443\u0448\u044c<\/strong> [complete nonsense], but the construction used in the headline with the perfect verb \u0443\u0431\u0438\u0442\u044c<\/strong> [to kill] combined with the instrumental case, \u0447\u0435\u043c<\/strong>, did catch my attention. The sentence in the headline is of my personal favorite kind \u2013 the impersonal kind. In such constructions the verb is written in third person singular, in every tempus, making the past form of it \u00ab\u0443\u0431\u0438\u043b\u043e \u0430\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043e\u0438\u0434\u043e\u043c\u00bb<\/strong> [killed by an asteroid]. In such a simple way the sentence above conveys that the death was accidental and not the fault of the people killed (i.e. in this case that the \u2018homosexuals\u2019 of the Old Testament weren\u2019t actually punished by God, but suffered death because of foreign objects coming from space). You can of course use other \u2018reasons of death\u2019 like for example, \u00ab\u0443\u0431\u0438\u043b\u043e \u043c\u043e\u043b\u043d\u0438\u0435\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [killed by lightning] or \u00ab\u0443\u0431\u0438\u043b\u043e \u0447\u0443\u043c\u043e\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [killed by the plague].<\/p>\n


\nAnother headline that caught my attention, this time not solely on grammatical grounds, was the following \u00ab\u0422\u0440\u0435\u0442\u0438\u0439 \u0420\u0438\u043c \u0438\u043b\u0438 “\u0442\u0440\u0435\u0442\u0438\u0439 \u043c\u0438\u0440”? \u0412\u0437\u0433\u043b\u044f\u0434 \u043d\u0430 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u044e \u0441 \u0417\u0430\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430 \u0438 \u043d\u0430\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [Third Rome or \u201cthe third world\u201d? A look at Russia from the West and the other way around]<\/a>. The article does not only contain news, nor is it pure journalism, but more like an entry in the travel diary of the woman who wrote it, \u0415\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0430 \u042f\u043c\u043f\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f<\/strong>, after visiting Rome and thinking about the eternal problem of the (often troubled) relationship between Russia and Europe. In Russian history Moscow has been a child of many names \u2013 one of these being \u2018Third Rome\u2019<\/em>, and Russia is (despite everything \u2013 all of the best of intentions, all them billionaires in the duma or rolling around in them SUVs in the capitol and their big factories) still a third world country, thus explaining the title of the article. Elena complains that when she flew into Rome with Aeroflot she arrived together with tourists from Pakistan and Ghana, something that she as a \u2018white\u2019 person feels was degrading. While I was reading the article, which is not completely uninteresting, though a teeny bit \u00ab\u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u043d\u044f\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [one-sided], the Russian expression that came to mind was one that she also herself refers to later in the article \u2013 \u00ab\u043e\u0431\u0438\u0434\u043d\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [offended, annoyed; unfortunate, distressing; pitiful].<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a piece of it:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041c\u044b \u0432\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043b\u0438, \u0447\u0442\u043e \u043d\u0430\u0441 \u0431\u0443\u0434\u0443\u0442 \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0438\u0442\u044c \u0437\u0430 \u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443\u0440\u0443, \u0437\u0430 \u0422\u043e\u043b\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0438 \u0427\u0435\u0445\u043e\u0432\u0430, \u0437\u0430 \u043a\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0438\u0432\u044b\u0435 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0437\u0430 \u0438 \u0437\u0430\u0433\u0430\u0434\u043e\u0447\u043d\u0443\u044e \u0440\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0443\u044e \u0434\u0443\u0448\u0443. \u041e\u0431\u043b\u043e\u043c\u0438\u043b\u043e\u0441\u044c. \u041c\u043e\u0436\u0435\u0442, \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432 \u0431\u044b\u043b \u0443\u043c\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043a, \u043f\u043e \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0433\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u043f\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0434\u0443 \u0441\u043a\u0430\u0437\u0430\u0432\u0448\u0438\u0439: “\u041d\u0435 \u0443\u043c\u0435\u044e\u0442 \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0438\u0442\u044c – \u043f\u0443\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0431\u043e\u044f\u0442\u0441\u044f”? \u041d\u043e \u044d\u0442\u043e \u0432\u0437\u0433\u043b\u044f\u0434 \u043a\u0440\u0430\u0439\u043d\u0438\u0439, \u0441 \u0442\u043e\u0447\u043a\u0438 \u0437\u0440\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f \u043b\u0438\u0431\u0435\u0440\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e-\u0434\u0435\u043c\u043e\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 – \u043a\u0440\u0430\u043c\u043e\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0438 \u0432 \u0446\u0435\u043b\u043e\u043c \u043f\u043e\u0447\u0442\u0438 \u043d\u0435\u0432\u044b\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0438\u043c\u044b\u0439. \u0420\u0430\u0437\u043b\u044e\u0431\u0438\u0442\u044c \u0417\u0430\u043f\u0430\u0434 \u043e\u0431\u0438\u0434\u043d\u043e, \u043a\u0430\u043a \u043e\u0431\u0438\u0434\u043d\u043e \u0432\u043e\u043e\u0431\u0449\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0437\u043b\u044e\u0431\u0438\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [We believed that they would love us for [our] culture, for Tolstoy and Chekhov, for [our] beautiful eyes and [our] mysterious Russian soul. We messed up. Maybe the smart person was right who said on another topic: \u2018If they can\u2019t love, then let them be afraid\u2019? But this view is extreme, from a liberal-democratic point of view \u2013 rebellious and in general almost unbearable. To stop loving the West is a pity, just as it is a pity to stop loving in general].<\/p>\n

In other news, it seems to be high time to congratulate Russia\u2019s former president \u0412. \u0412. \u041f\u0443\u0442\u0438\u043d<\/strong> on successfully following in the footsteps of the president of France and thus soon to get married to Russia\u2019s most beautiful woman \u2013 \u0410\u043b\u0438\u043d\u0430 \u041a\u0430\u0431\u0430\u0435\u0432\u0430<\/strong>. I first came across this yesterday in the Swedish news, under the most (to me yesterday because it was so not expected) disturbing headline of “Putin gifter om sig med 24-\u00e5rig gymnast”<\/strong> [Putin gets remarried to a 24 year old gymnast]<\/a>. Later I found the Russian source, and it was a little less disturbing since it at least included some doubt in the form of a question mark \u2013 \u00ab\u0412\u043b\u0430\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u041f\u0443\u0442\u0438\u043d \u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0430 \u0410\u043b\u0438\u043d\u0435 \u041a\u0430\u0431\u0430\u0435\u0432\u043e\u0439?\u00bb <\/a><\/strong> [Is Vladimir Putin marrying Alina Kabaeva?] Perhaps not everyone knows who this 24 year old woman \u2013 a gymnastics and winner of a couple of Olympic medals plus currently member of the Duma for United Russia \u2013 is and what\u2019s so special about her. I won\u2019t act like I know what\u2019s so special about her, but she was proclaimed the most beautiful woman of Russia by an almost unpresented unified Russian public opinion in March this year, and with that I can\u2019t argue. Google her for pictures \u2013 she\u2019s gorgeous and she\u2019d make any man happy \u2013 and will now also be making all women jealous, if it\u2019s true and she\u2019ll be walking down the aisle with Vovochka<\/em> on the 15th of June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For some reason whenever I\u2019m searching for some interesting piece of news from the \u0412\u0435\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0430\u044f \u0420\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0430 [Great Motherland] to comment on here, there\u2019s nothing even remotely interesting to be found on any of the many abundant Russian news sites. I\u2019m not just trying to find a news story to comment on in a purely \u2018journalistic\u2019…<\/p>\n

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