A Few False Friends

Слово – не воробей, вылетит – не поймаешь.
A word is not a nightingale, once it’s out you can’t catch it.
– Russian proverb

Anyone who has tried to learn a difficult language like Russian understands the relief in finding words that sound just like their native equivalent. When you hear such international words as “metro” or ‘taxi” enough times, you can even start to feel that elusive mastery quickening within you.

Unfortunately, time shows this list of “free words” to be a lot shorter than it first seems. What’s more, some of these “familiar” words can easily be misused, causing embarrassment. In the theory of translation, such snares are called “false friends of the translator.”

As any Russian teacher will tell you, this is a very topical issue. Speaking of which, how would you say in Russian: “It’s a topical issue”? The best way is to say Это актуальный вопрос. Актуальный means topical, newsy or urgent, and not “actually,” the Russian equivalent of which is фактически (factually) or на самом деле (in actual fact).

If someone tells you that your tie doesn’t look солидно, they”re not referring to its composition. What your Russian critic means is that your tie isn’t presentable. The English “solid” has little in common with the Russian солидный. The appropriate equivalents would be прочный (strong) or твёрдый (hard).

Speaking of ties, if you’re shopping in Russia for a “real silk” one, don’t look for the easiest Russian equivalent, реальный шёлк. It should translate as 100 percent (стопроцентный) шёлк or натуральный (natural silk). Unfortunately, the chances of finding such a tie in Moscow at an affordable price are just not реально (“realistic” not “real” – another false friend).

If someone does insult your tie, you might reciprocate and tell him that he is not quite интеллигентный. This is not to say that this person is not “intelligent.” Интеллигентный in Russian means decent, discreet, learned and well-mannered. This type of person would be expected to keep negative opinions to himself.

In a related vein, don’t try to interrogate someone who is full of интеллигентность (the noun for интеллигентный) for classified (секретный) information. This person’s discretion is of a different character.

If you want to use a less class-oriented word than интеллигентный, try корректный. Any athlete, whatever their level of play, will be expected to fit this description. Swearing at the crowd, fouling opponents, or throwing equipment is likely to invite charges of некорректное поведение (incorrect, i.e. unsportsmanlike behavior).

Back in the 1980s, when the arms race was at its peak, you might have heard about U.S. spy satellites monitoring very “accurate” Soviet medium-range SS-20 missiles. Had the Soviet General Secretary’s interpreter translated this as аккуратные, he would have upset the strategic parity between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, and perhaps lost his job or worse. “Accurate” is a very false friend of military interpreters. The treacherously similar аккуратно means “exact, punctual, careful and conscientious.” So the “high accuracy” of an SS-20 should be conveyed as высокая точность.

This subtle difference in the meanings of the English “accurate” and Russian аккуратный can sometimes bring absurd results. The words аккуратная фигурка, translate literally into English as “accurate figure.” But this might not be music to the ears of a Russian accountant, for to him/her it means “well-proportioned figure.”

Further, if someone were to say in public that his boss’ new wife looks much younger than he does, Russians may find his remark not аккуратная, even when true. In this context аккуратная means “careful.”

An интеллигентный employee, meanwhile, would never make such a remark. Not only because it’s not интеллигентно or корректно (discreet) but because it’s not right (правильно) or intelligent (умно) either. If such an employee demands a large raise, his boss may reply that he doesn’t find this figure “accurate.” A career-minded person should know how to talk about his superiors in public. This is still an актуальный вопрос in today’s Russia.