Воля - Vol-ya

Dictionaries will often translate volya as something like freedom or free-will, but the word means so much more than свобода (svoboda), its plainer synonym.  It describes a state of unbounded, almost anarchic freedom – the sense of liberty that you might feel in a place of vast, natural beauty.  It’s the opposite of constraint, oppression, drudgery; a feeling that anything is possible and nothing can hold you back.

Самородок – Samo-rodok

A samorodok is essentially a ‘diamond in the rough’.  It describes a person endowed with natural talent and potential that has not been able to refine their skills in the framework of formal education or training.  Unlike the English expression, samorodok emphasises the coarseness of the individual in his current state.  In its literal sense, it means ‘golden nugget’.

Запой – Za-poy

Zapoy means the drinking binge to end all drinking binges. This doesn’t mean going out for a few drinks and waking up with a headache the next morning.  It’s not a zapoy unless it lasts for multiple days, causes considerable mayhem, and you wake up in some unfamiliar place with no recollection of what even happened.

Бытие – B-wyh-tee-yeh

This is a rather grandiloquent philosophical word that means something like the state-of-existence-beyond-existence-itself (obviously a vital word for beginner students to learn!)  Perhaps the best way to describe it is as the pure reality of things untainted by human subjectivity and fallibility, a hyperconscious reality

Любоваться – Lyoo-bov-atsya

Lyubovatsya means to stare at something with admiration and adoration. It has the sense of basking in the wonderment of whatever it is your looking at, taking enormous pleasure from just being in its presence. It is a much more self-indulgent feeling than the English ‘admire’.

Показуха – Pok-az-oo-kha

If ever there was a word to describe the Soviet Union, with its sturdy veneer but crumbling reality, this was it. Pokazukha means something similar to window-dressing. It refers to a slightly absurd attempt to show things in a good light when you know full well that it’s an absolute shambles. It emphasises the audacity of the deceiver.

Тоска – Tosk-a 

We couldn’t resist including toska and Vladimir Nabokov’s famous definition:

No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody or something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom Vladimir Nabokov

People do have a habit of (unfoundedly) claiming that their native language is richer and more poetic others, but as Nabokov spoke English to the same level as he did Russian, we’ll take his word on it.

The rule of thumb then is to use грусть (grust) when referring to ‘regular sadness’ and toska when you mean the sort of sorrow that you feel in the marrow of your bones..

Живучий – Zhiv-oo-chee

This slightly sinister word means ‘one that clings to life’. It can’t really be translated as resilient or tenacious as they words have positive, stoical connotations. One of the most zhivuchiye people in history has to have been Rasputin, who was poisoned, shot, and thrown into the freezing Malaya Nevka River, and yet still had the fight in him to claw at the ice with his fingernails.

Мужик – Moo-zhik

What is a muzhik? You hear men calling each other this word all the time in Russia, but it’s difficult to pin down exactly what it means. muzhik is often placed alongside those colloquial terms in English that we have for male friends: mate, fellow, guy, bloke, lad, dude, bro, etc. However, the difference is that these words don’t say anything particular about his personality, whilst muzhik definitely does.

Historically, muzhik was simply a way of referring to a male, Russian peasant. Nowadays, if you call someone a muzhik you are expressing your admiration for any number of qualities: machoism, hardiness, independence, financial success, physical bravery. In short, a muzhik is a loveable rogue with a love for volya (see above).

Быт – B-wyh-t

In stark contrast to the spiritual existence of бытие (bytiye), the word быт is connected to the mundane, drudgery of everyday life, particularly that which is contained within the home.  It very neatly captures the sense of dullness that we feel when going about our daily chores and other activities necessary for life – loading the dishwasher, pouring milk into our bowl of cereal, washing ourselves in the shower. Those moments when we feel we are existing, rather than living.