Thread: "charged topic" in russian

1) How do I say a "charged topic", in Russian?

A "highly charged topic" is one that people have very strong feelings and opinions about -- one that will open up a lot of discussion, disagreement, perhaps even anger. (The topic is "charged" like a battery is charged or a weapon is loaded -- it has a lot of energy just waiting to explode!)

Also, while I'm here:


2) Which word do I use for "warm" in the phrase "to warm food"

3) How do you say in Russian "make coffee", "делать кофе?"

2. разогревать/подогревать

3. варить кофе

1. горячая, раскалённая, эмоциональная, напряжённая тема

разогревать! - That word always slips me... I get a lot of opportunitis to use it but I keep forgetting it. разогревать...разогревать... разогревать...разогревать...

3. варить кофе

1. горячая, раскалённая, эмоциональная, напряжённая тема

Thanks, didn't manage to google it эмоциональная тема I think best describe what I was trying to get.

(крайно) спорная тема?

No no, I was actually going more for "laden issue".. an issue that is heavily emotional to the speaker

There's also a common phrase, больная тема, "painful topic", refers to something that was discussed a lot, or occurs to someone a lot.

Originally Posted by Seraph

(крайне) спорная тема?

Спорный means questionable.

Oh, I was misunderstanding. I thought спорный was related to спорить, and had something to do with controversial. (Not the direct deverbal, but from the root.) Controversial is usually charged, but not with the meaning that Valda was looking for.

Originally Posted by E-learner

2. разогревать/подогревать

Note, for Valda, that подогревать suggests a slighter degree of warming than разогревать. So the choice of words could depend on whether you want your food "steaming hot" or just a bit warm.

Also, I'm pretty sure that (с)варить кофе specifically means "to brew coffee", i.e., from real молотый кофе (ground coffee beans). After all, the verb варить is also used when making чай from tea leaves or when brewing beer, etc.

But if, heaven forbid, you're using instant coffee (растворимый кофе), I would guess that it sounds better to use the more generic verb (при)готовить ("to prepare, to fix [food], to cook").

Да, варить пиво, но чай никогда. Если чай варить, он теряет вкус. Воду для чая нужно довести до кипения и сразу выключить, т. е. не дать воде вариться.
Заварить чай! Насыпь в чайничек заварку из расчёта: одна чайная ложка чая на чашку.
Заварочный чайник.

Может быть противоречивая тема.