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March 15, 2005
Nostalgie de la boue
I just had round 1 of my Russian translation exam cycle, in which it emerged that I know much more Russian than I give myself credit (and ulcers) for. A grammatically-balanced Russian sentence is a beautiful, algebraic thing.
Posts are sure to be infrequent in coming days, as I wall myself in with my main devushka and fellow ex-Petersburger, Adrianne, to engage in nostalgie de la boue, which the OED defines as:
A longing for sexual or social degradation; a desire to regress to more primitive social conditions or behaviour than those to which a person is accustomed.
(Basically synonymous with a longing for Russia.)
In the meantime, please read:
How do you say "kitten heels" in Russian?
"Dennis Borisov lives in the Urals, a million miles from London's literary scene. His job was to translate a new novel by Scarlett Thomas. But some things puzzled him. Essex Girl? Co-op? Text message? He emailed her for advice..."
Posted by michele at March 15, 2005 12:33 PM