9 disgusting borrowings in Russian

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Sometimes foreign words only spoil our speech. Especially if they have a Russian counterpart.

Borrowing is the process of assimilation by a language of a word or expression from another language. Also, such a word or expression itself is called borrowing.

The process of accepting vocabulary from another language by one language (this phenomenon is sometimes called assimilation) has always been and will be surrounded by controversies that are kindled by fighters for the "purity of speech".

By the way, about "cleanliness". In 1970, the American philologist Einar Haugen proposed the concept of "language ecology", which describes the relationship between the language itself and its environment. If you follow the scientist's statements, it becomes obvious that it is foolish to deny the need for borrowings, because they are an integral part of the development and improvement of the language.

However, everything is good in moderation. There are words with a unique lexical meaning, taken into an indefinite lexical "rental", which do not and should not have an analogue in Russian: login, podcast, football, monitor and others. And some words people use to look smarter, more modern, or just different.

In this article we will try to figure out why it looks ridiculous in practice.

1. Production

A buzzword from the media that everyone has heard. Sound-production, pre-production, post-production. The term is used in the film industry, music, programming and many others. The disadvantage of the lexeme is its uselessness, since it is still unclear why the word "production" did not please.

2. Speech

Everyone can push a clear speech, but not everyone can speak competently.

3. Handmade

If you call a cute knitted hat with the word "handmade", it will not stop warming, but it will not sound very home-like. Think about it.

4. Feedback

Imagine: you are going to buy something in an online store, you want to read the impressions of customers, and you stumble upon the "Feedback" section. It would be strange and unnatural. I haven’t seen anything like this yet, but marketers already use this word so often even in communication with clients (based on personal experience) that its appearance in writing is not far off. Better to use the terms "feedback" or "reviews".

5. Face

"Let's just jump up and light up our face." It seems that people who say "face" instead of "face" communicate this way. Remark about the word "face control": this is an integral term that has the right to exist in this form, since it carries a unique meaning and has no analogues in the Russian language.

6. Follower

Well. Let's say "subscriber" then. Do you agree? Don't forget about the word “subscriber” - it has a rich history that dates back to subscriptions to newspapers in the 18th century.

7. Bow

I’ll say without tediousness: in pragmatic English look sounds good, but in Russian there is a wonderful analogue of “image”, which I see no point in replacing for aesthetic reasons.

8. Light

Yes, this word is universal (light load, light equipment). But how inorganic it looks with any other expressions. In addition, in each case, you can choose an adequate synonym for it.

9. Security

The security guard in the grocery - security, the watchman - security, bodyguard - security. In my subjective opinion, if there are enough words in the Russian language, each of which performs its own function, there is no practical sense in replacing them with a pretentious sounding something from the militants.

Share in the comments which borrowings annoy you. The most interesting ones will be included in the new selection.