Michele Berdy - It's Altogether Confusing
to the article
Friday, August 25, 2006. Issue 3483.
It's Altogether Confusing
By Michele A. Berdy
Вообще: in general, always, actually, on the whole, wow!
I don't watch much television these days, but when I do, I enjoy the advertisements. Or rather, I enjoy listening to the advertisements. Or rather, they drive me nuts, but they provide plenty of linguistic food for thought.
One that caught my ear was for laundry detergent. Hubby plays a trick on wifey, dressing a scarecrow in his best white shirt and putting it in his muddy courtyard. The little woman is convinced that the filthy shirt will never be clean again, until a stranger magically appears with a box of detergent and she gives it a try. When she pulls the spotless, snow-white shirt out of the washer, she squeals: "Ну, вообще! Обалдеть!"
Обалдеть is easy to understand; it means "to go crazy," and in this context means something like: Amazing! But вообще -- which wifey pronounces as "вааще" -- is more problematic. You can toss your dictionary out the window. The standard meaning of "in general" or "on the whole" makes no sense in this context. At some point in the evolution of the Russian language, вообще became a kind of generic interjection of astonishment. The little woman's delight at her hubby's clean shirt might be translated as: "Wow! I'll be darned!"
This sense of astonished "wow" is frequently heard in the phrase: Ну, ты вааще! (You're really something!) But that "something" can be either very bad or very good. If you have just finished painting the hallway and are covered from head to toe with paint spots, hubby might use "ну, ты вааще!" to mean: What a bloody mess! But if you are modeling your new sexy dress cut so low in the back it makes you blush, his "ну, ты вааще!" means: What a knock-out!
In general, вообще is one tricky little adverb.
In some cases the word does mean "in general" as advertised. Ну, как дела вообще? (So how are things in general?) It can be used to distinguish the general from the specific: Я не в буквальном смысле говорю ... а вообще. (I don't mean it literally. I'm speaking in general terms.)
Sometimes it has the sense of "generalities:" Трудно говорить об истории русской драмы вообще. (It's hard to speak in generalities about the history of Russian drama.) Sometimes it means "overall:" Надо отличать интимную жизнь писателя от его личной жизни вообще. (You must distinguish the love life of the writer from his overall personal life.)
In other contexts it has more the sense of "always," or, when used with negated verbs, "never." Я вообще не пью. Спиртные напитки вредны. (I never drink. Alcohol is bad for you.) Он вообще не берёт трубку. (He isn't answering the phone at all.)
Sometimes, especially when "то" is added to the word, you might translate it as "actually:" Я вообще тихий человек. (Actually, I'm a quiet person.) Вообще-то я собираюсь пойти домой. (As a matter of fact I'm planning to go home.)
In colloquial speech it seems to be used as a kind of filler word or intensifier: А ты вообще кто по национальности? (So what's your nationality anyway?) О чем ты вообще говоришь? (What on earth are you talking about?!)
Or it can wrap up many complicated notions into one vague little packet, as in this rather uninspired toast from a play: Поздравляю тебя, Лена. Забудь обо всём, и вообще -- ваше здоровье! (Happy birthday, Lena. Forget about everything, and all in all -- to your health!)
After spending a few hours with this tricky little word, I've come to agree with theater director Stanislavsky, who had a famous rant about вообще: Какое это ужасное слово! "Вообще" -- поверхностно и легкомысленно. ... "Вообще" -- хаотично и бессмысленно. ... "Вообще" -- всё начинает и ничего не кончает. (What a dreadful word! It is superficial and silly, chaotic and senseless. ... It starts everything and doesn't end anything.)
Ну, вaaще!
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
posted by Kate @ 4:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home