Old Tatar Man in Kazan (picture from wikipedia.org)

Russian MiniLessons: Aging

Published: February 5, 2013

The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation.

Most Russians feel uneasy talking about aging. There are many Russians proverbs that express a negative attitude towards old age, such as โ€œะกั‚ะฐั€ะพัั‚ัŒ โ€“ ะฝะต ั€ะฐะดะพัั‚ัŒโ€, or โ€œะ–ะธะทะฝัŒ ะฟั€ะพั‚ัะฝะตั‚ัั โ€“ ะฒัะตะณะพ ะดะพัั‚ะฐะฝะตั‚ััโ€, or โ€œะœะพะปะพะดะพัั‚ัŒ โ€“ ะฝะต ะณั€ะตั…, ัั‚ะฐั€ะพัั‚ัŒ โ€“ ะฝะต ัะผะตั…โ€. The general Russian outlook to old age, whether positive or negative, is usually fatalistic.

In certain cases, there is a tradition of ัƒะฒะฐะถะตะฝะธะต ะบ ัั‚ะฐั€ะพัั‚ะธ. Younger people often ัƒัั‚ัƒะฟะฐั‚ัŒ ะผะตัั‚ะฐ ัั‚ะฐั€ะธะบะฐะผย in public transportation. They may also ะฟะตั€ะตะฒะพะดะธั‚ัŒ ัั‚ะฐั€ะธะบa ั‡ะตั€ะตะท ะดะพั€ะพะณัƒ. There are some Russian expressions that convey respect to the physical signs of old age, such as โ€œะฑะปะฐะณะพั€ะพะดะฝะฐั ัะตะดะธะฝะฐโ€, as well as some expressions that associate older people with wisdom: โ€œะผัƒะดั€ั‹ะน ัั‚ะฐั€ะธะบโ€ย or โ€œะผัƒะดั€ะฐั ัั‚ะฐั€ะฐั ะถะตะฝั‰ะธะฝะฐโ€.

However, many Russians say, โ€œะขะฐะบ ะฝะต ั…ะพั‡ะตั‚ัั ัั‚ะฐั€ะตั‚ัŒ!โ€. Some people say, โ€œะ–ะธะทะฝัŒ ะบะปะพะฝะธั‚ัั ะบ ะทะฐะบะฐั‚ัƒโ€. This attitude is partly caused by a feeling of insecurity, since for many people in Russia, ะฒ ัั‚ะฐั€ะพัั‚ะธ ัั‚ะฐะฝะพะฒัั‚ัั ะพัั‚ั€ะตะต ั„ะธะฝะฐะฝัะพะฒั‹ะต ะฟั€ะพะฑะปะตะผั‹. This is mainly due to the fact that ะฟะพะถะธะปั‹ะต ะปัŽะดะธย retire and have no substantial savings, unless they are successful businessmen or executives who ัะพัั‚ะพัะปัั ะฒ ะถะธะทะฝะธ.

While in many countries, ัƒั…ะพะดะธั‚ัŒ ะฝะฐ ะฟะตะฝัะธัŽ, is often viewed as something pleasant, in Russia state pensions were decimated by the ั„ะธะฝะฐะฝัะพะฒั‹ะต ะบั€ะธะทะธัั‹ย and ะณะธะฟะตั€ะธะฝั„ะปัั†ะธัย of the 90s. While they are now beginning to recover, most still say that it is โ€œะฝะตะฒะพะทะผะพะถะฝะพ ะถะธั‚ัŒ ะฝะฐ ะฟะตะฝัะธะธโ€. To make matters worse, the ะบั€ะธะทะธัั‹ also destroyed any savings that people had and Russia had not yet developed corporate or personal pension funds (which are still, for the most part, underdeveloped). In part because of this, the elderly are the main support for the Communist Party, because they remember a USSR slogan, โ€œะฟะตะฝัะธะพะฝะตั€ะฐะผ โ€“ ะดะพัั‚ะพะนะฝะฐั ะถะธะทะฝัŒโ€.

Also, some expressions in Russian reveal a sarcastic attitude towards old people, such as pejorative collocations like โ€œัั‚ะฐั€ั‹ะน ั…ั€ั‹ั‡โ€, โ€œัั‚ะฐั€ะธะบะฐัˆะบะฐโ€, or โ€œะฟะตัะพะบ ัั‹ะฟะตั‚ัั ะธะท ะฝะตะณะพโ€, which refers to menโ€™s loss of strength. Another common conception of old age in Russian is โ€œะกะตะดะธะฝะฐ ะฒ ะฑะพั€ะพะดัƒ โ€“ ะฑะตั ะฒ ั€ะตะฑั€ะพโ€. This describes older men who ะฝะฐั‡ะธะฝะฐัŽั‚ ะฑะตะณะฐั‚ัŒ ะฟะพ ะผะพะปะพะดะตะฝัŒะบะธะผ ะดะตะฒะพั‡ะบะฐะผย to prove their manliness. In dating younger girls, some men want to get rid of their ัั‚ั€ะฐั… ะดั€ัั…ะปะพัั‚ะธ. Other men just ะณะพะฝัั‚ ะพั‚ ัะตะฑั ะผั‹ัะปะธ ย when thinking about the effects of ัั‚ะฐั€ะพัั‚ัŒ.

At the same time, some older people have a wise and calm outlook on their age. A ัั‚ะฐั€ัƒัˆะบะฐ/ะฑะฐะฑัƒัˆะบะฐย may talk about her plans for the future with the remark, โ€œะ•ัะปะธ ะดะพะถะธะฒัƒโ€. A very old lady can say, โ€œะŸะพั€ะฐ ะฝะฐ ะฟะพะบะพะนโ€, meaning she has accepted the fact that she will die soon and will rest after she dies. Many modern Russians have a special respect for ัั‚ะฐั€ัƒัˆะบะธ, because many people were brought up by their grandmothers while their parents were busy working; for this reason, some people feel closer ties with their grandmothers than with their parents.

About the author

Josh Wilson

Josh Wilson

Josh lived in Moscow from 2003, when he first arrived to study Russian with SRAS, until 2022. He holds an M.A. in Theatre and a B.A. in History from Idaho State University, where his masters thesis was written on the political economy of Soviet-era censorship organs affecting the stage. At SRAS, Josh assists in program development and leads our Internship Programs. He is also the editor-in-chief for the SRAS newsletter, the SRAS Family of Sites, and Vestnik. He has previously served as Communications Director to Bellerage Alinga and has served as a consultant or translator to several businesses and organizations with interests in Russia.

Program attended: SRAS Staff Member

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Andrei Nesterov

Andrei Nesterov

Andrei Nesterov leads SRAS' Research Services, performing remote archive research and consultations for researchers around the globe. Andrei graduated from Ural State University (journalism) and Irkutsk State Linguistic University (English). He also studied public policy and journalism at Duke University on a Muskie Fellowship and taught Russian at West Virginia University. As a journalist, he has reported in both Russian and English language outlets and has years of archival research experience. He has travelled Russia extensively and penned many stories on the โ€œreal Russiaโ€ which lies beyond the capital and major cities. Andrei also contributes news, feature stories, and language resources to the SRAS Family of Sites.

Program attended: SRAS Staff Member

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