The Dictionary of Advanced Russian Usage (DARU) – «Продвинутый англо-русский/русско-английский словарь» – is primarily intended for translators, interpreters and those who are involved in the in-depth study of Russian and English. The goal of this dictionary is to offer translations of tricky words and phrases which heretofore have either been inadequately handled in large English-Russian/Russian-English lexicons or have not been addressed at all. Take, for example, the simple word “ain’t”. Most “serious” reference works give it two or three lines and totally miss the point. The DARU offers roughly two pages with multiple examples of how this unruly word can be handled. The same can be said for a myriad of words and phrases such as “awesome!”, “wow factor”, “right back atcha!”, “elbow grease”, “haunted”, “guilty pleasure”, “high/stoned”,“to shoot up”, etc., etc.
The intertwining of any two great linguistic rivers is fraught with multiple currents and cross currents, eddies and rapids. As each river changes by the second, it also slowly cuts new channels and is reshaped in the mind of each and every speaker. Translation is not a science, but an art form. In mathematics there is only one correct answer. When dealing with languages, multiple answers are the rule. Any translation – to one extent or another – is an impressionist painting.
This second edition of DARU has been expanded based on my copious notebooks, Russian literature, both classical and contemporary, periodicals and reference works. Included are words and expressions which I encountered as a contract interpreter for the U. S. Department of State, as well as during my tenure at the Voice of America and Library of Congress. These notes and utterances are cited here as“ on-target” translations for English/Russian words and idioms which thus far have not lent themselves to a truly satisfactory rendering. Particularly problematic are spontaneous expressions of popular culture in both tongues. A translator, armed with this valuable instrument, may confidently take aim at these mercurial words, interjections, exclamations and phrases which in the past have wrought mostly consternation.
Wherever possible, entries are sourced and offerings of a personal nature have been duly noted. Almost all entries are demonstrably of native speaker origin. Therefore we should have little patience for the reaction:“Nobody talks like that!/Taк не говорят!” I would like to humbly suggest to those people who express such sentiments that they continue to read and listen attentively with the goal of broadening their understanding.
