the word’s worth: It cuts both ways

By Michele A. Berdy

Published: October 17, 2012 (Issue # 1731)

Ïóòü: road, rails, path, way, route

It’s a road! It’s a path! No, it’s super word: ïóòü!

OK, so I exaggerate. But ïóòü is one of those wonderful Russian nouns that requires a dozen English words to translate and ranges in meaning from the very concrete to the broadly metaphorical.

At the concrete end of things, ïóòü is a road: Ïóòü èä¸ò âäîëü ðåêè è çàòåì ââåðõ â ãîðû (The road goes along the river and then up into the mountains).

And it can mean the railroad used by trams or trains: Ïåðåõîäèòü òðàìâàéíûå ïóòè äàæå â ðàçðåø¸ííîì ìåñòå — îïàñíî (It’s dangerous to cross the tram tracks even on the designated crosswalks.)

Or it’s any kind of route, path or way, like øåëêîâûé ïóòü (silk route).

Ïóòü is also a kind of stand-in for a voyage, so when someone is heading off somewhere, you can wish him ñ÷àñòëèâîãî ïóòè (have a good trip), or the slightly old-fashioned â äîáðûé ïóòü! (happy trails!)

On the metaphorical end of things, ïóòü is a path in life or a way of doing something. Îí ïðîø¸ë ïóòü îò ïðîñòîãî ñîëäàòà äî ãåíåðàëà (He worked his way up from a simple soldier to a general).

Russians love to talk about ïóòè ðåøåíèÿ ïðîáëåì (literally “ways of solving problems”), which in English are often rendered much more laconically. Ãëîáàëüíûå ïðîáëåìû ñîâðåìåííîñòè è ïóòè èõ ðåøåíèÿ might be rendered: Today’s Global Problems and Possible Solutions.

There are lots of ïóòü expressions and idioms, like íàì íå ïî ïóòè, which means “we’re not going the same way,” either literally or figuratively. In a car it means “I’m not going that way.” In a divorce court, it means: “It’s time to split up.”

When you run into a friend unexpectedly on the street, you might exclaim: Êàêèìè ïóòÿìè! (What are you doing here!)

If you’re in business and your strongest competitor in widget production has just gone bankrupt, you can rub your hands together and shout: Ïóòü ñâîáîäåí! (Smooth sailing ahead; literally “the path is free”).

When you’ve either messed up or taken a career detour, you can say: Ñîø¸ë ñ ïóòè (I got side-tracked, I went off base).

But if you are moving in the right direction, you can announce: ß íà ïóòè (I’m on my way!).

Ïóòü is used in the instrumental case ïóò¸ì to describe the way something is done: ìû ðåøèëè ïðîáëåìó ëåãàëüíûì/ìèðíûì ïóò¸ì (We resolved the problem legally/peacefully). Âñ¸ ïóò¸ì is a nice philosophy of life.

It can mean doing things properly, the way they should be done: Ìû ñ íåâåñòîé ðåøèëè âåí÷àòüñÿ. Âñ¸ ïóò¸ì! (My fiancee and I have decided to have a church wedding — do it up right.)

Or it can just be a slangy way of saying that things are going great: Êàê äåëà? Âñ¸ ïóò¸ì! (How are things? Fabulous!)

Ïóòåâîé is the adjective from ïóòü and refers to anything related to a trip or road, like ïóòåâûå ðàñõîäû (travel expenses). The variant ïóò¸âûé is slang for something cool or fabulous, like ïóò¸âûé ïàðåíü (cool guy). The negative form, íåïóò¸âûé, is said of someone who is a goof-off or screw-up. Íå çíàþ, ÷òî äåëàòü — äî÷ü âûõîäèò çàìóæ çà òàêîãî íåïóò¸âîãî ïàðíÿ! (I don’t know what to do — my daughter is engaged to such a bum!)

But you never know: ïóòè ãîñïîäíè íåèñïîâåäèìû (God moves in mysterious ways).

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