the word’s worth: Zyuganov in the dog house

By Michele A. Berdy

Published: September 26, 2012 (Issue # 1728)

Ïîñëåäíÿÿ ñîáàêà: lowest of the low

In the heat and confusion of events, a politician sends a sharply worded tweet. Public outrage ensues. His aides clarify, only making things worse. The politician says he didn’t mean what critics say he meant, and then says he didn’t write the tweet at all.

This would hardly catch my eye — it happens every day in the United States — but this particular Twitter incident occurred in Russia, and the tweet concerned an American. One of the politician’s colleagues said, “Ìû ñ÷èòàåì, ÷òî ýòî ïðîèçîøëî èç-çà ïëîõîãî çíàíèÿ àìåðèêàíöàìè âñåõ íþàíñîâ ðóññêîãî ÿçûêà” (We believe this happened because the Americans had a bad understanding of all the nuances of the Russian language). I’m always interested in nuances Americans don’t understand.

The purported author was Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, and the alleged tweet was this: Àìåðèêàíñêîãî ïîñëà â Ëèâèè ðàññòðåëÿëè êàê ïîñëåäíþþ ñîáàêó. Ýòî áûë ãëàâíûé ñïåöèàëèñò ïî ëèâèéñêîé «ðåâîëþöèè». Îí ïîëó÷èë òî, ÷òî ïîñåÿë. (The U.S. ambassador to Libya was shot like the lowest dog. He was the main specialist on the Libyan “revolution.” He reaped what he sowed.)

Zyuganov and his aides insisted the phrase ðàññòðåëÿòü êàê ñîáàêó (to shoot like a dog) means áåç ñîæàëåíèÿ ðàññòðåëÿëè, áåñïàðäîííî ðàññòðåëÿëè (to shoot someone without mercy, to shoot someone brazenly). This phrase, they said, condemns the executioners, not the executed.

This is the nuance Americans supposedly didn’t get. But English has the exact same expression — to shoot someone like a dog — which, exactly like the Russian, is a comment on the way someone was treated. 

So what’s the problem? Well, at least part of the problem is the word ïîñëåäíèé (last), a word left out of all the convoluted and contradictory explanations.

Ïîñëåäíèé generally isn’t a problematic word. It means the last something, like ïîñëåäíèé äåíü ìåñÿöà (last day of the month), or ÿ æèâó íà ïîñëåäíåì ýòàæå (I live on the last floor). Like in English, it can refer to an action done just before death, like ïîñëåäíèé âçäîõ óìèðàþùåãî (a dying person’s last breath). Sometimes it can mean the very newest of the new, like ïîñëåäíÿÿ íîâîñòü (latest news) or ïîñëåäíÿÿ ìîäà (the latest style).

And then it can be an intensifier that means the worst in a bad series, like ïîñëåäíèé äóðàê (the stupidest idiot), or ïîñëåäíèé íåãîäÿé (the worst scumbag) — or ïîñëåäíÿÿ ñîáàêà (a lowly dog, the lowest of the low).

Calling someone ïîñëåäíÿÿ ñîáàêà is a strong insult. Ýòî ñàìàÿ ÷òî íè íà åñòü àíàôåìà: òû õóæå ïîñëåäíåé ñîáàêè (That is the worst kind of anathema: You’re worse than the lowest dog). Ëó÷øå áûòü ïîñëåäíåé ñîáàêîé äîìà, ÷åì â âàøåé Àìåðèêå (It’s better to be the lowest of the low at home than to live in your America.)

On the other hand, in examples where someone was treated like ïîñëåäíÿÿ ñîáàêà, the phrase clearly condemns the treatment. Áðîñèëè íàñ â àýðîïîðòó êàê ïîñëåäíèõ ñîáàê (We were dumped at the airport as if we were a pack of  street dogs). Íà äîïðîñàõ áèëè êàê ïîñëåäíèõ ñîáàê (At interrogations they beat us like dogs.)

But if there is any ambiguity about the first sentence, the tweet resolves it with the last sentence: ïîëó÷èë òî, ÷òî ïîñåÿë (usually ÷òî ïîñåÿë, òî è ïîæí¸øü — as ye sow, so shall ye reap). He got what he deserved.

It’s no wonder there was such a scramble to explain, clarify, translate and blame. Outrageous.

Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of “The Russian Word’s Worth” (Glas), a collection of her columns.