Thread: Вопросы по грамматике и значению слов (by Simon000001

Originally Posted by Eugene-p

Dictionaries contain much more clumsy words than one can ever imagine
«callipygian» в переводных словарях — Яндекс.Словари

Heh-heh! Perhaps the strangest thing about "callipygian" (I doubt that more than 1 English speaker in 10,000 could define it) is that there isn't a more ordinary word for such a useful concept!

P.S. There's a related and equally rare word "steatopygian" (с жирными/толстыми ягодицами) -- presumably Sir Mix-A-Lot would argue that the two words are synonyms, but not everyone would agree...

When I see such English words I cannot guess what do they mean. Conversely the word in the question is easily understandable because it was produced with regular word-formation rules from a well-known stem.

"простой" has two meanings: as an adjective it means "simple", as a noun it means an interrupt in a work, time-out, idleness (from the same root as English "stay"). So "простойный" is an adjective of the second meaning of "простой", that is something related to idleness.

*"interrupt" is a verb you need "an interruption" here. I'm not sure but I think no "a" is needed before "work"

I would also say there is no such a word in Russian like "простойный" if I had not read this topic

As to "простой", yes, we have two different words of different structure. That is a pure coincidence.

"простой" (simple): "прост-" is the root, and "-ой" is the adjective ending (nominative masculine singular), the ending is stressed. When declining this adjective, we have:
простой - простого - простому - простым - простом (masc); простая - простую - простой - простой - простой (простою) - простой (fem); простое (neut); простые - простых - простым - простыми - простых (pl).

"простой" (idle time, standing idle): "про-" is a prefix which expresses duration here, and "-стой-" is the root (as Anixx noted, it's of the same origin as English "stay"). Since this word is a masculine noun, it has the zero ending in Nominative Singular. When declinining this noun, we have:
простой - простоя - простою - простоем - простое (sing); простои - простоев - простоям - простоями - простоях (pl).

So, there are three coinciding forms:
простой: adjective (Nom.Masc. or Gen.Fem. or Dat.Fem. or Instr.Fem. or Prep.Fem) vs простой: noun (Nom.Sg);
простое: adjective (Nom.Neut) vs простое: noun (Prep.Sg);
простою: adjective (Instr.Fem), it's an alternative version of "простой" form; vs простою: noun (Dat.Sg).

Any other form is unambiguous, e.g.: простые - only adjective (Nom.Pl), or простоем - only noun (Instr.Sg) etc.

I think we should invent an English word "forstay" Or "forestay".

A forestay is a line on a sailing ship. It leads foreward from masthead down to attachment.

'forstall' = to hold off, stave off, stand idle...;

Привет,

Каждый раз, что наталкиваюсь на слова "как раз" я их не понимаю.

"Да я хотел как раз тебя предупредить"

Помогите пожалуйста.

In his sentence "как раз" means "by the way"
Да я хотел как раз тебя предупредить" - By the way, I wanted to warn you

I think "by the way" is closer to "кстати". I would translate "как раз"as "just". I just wanted to warn you. So something has already happened but the speaker anticipated it and wished to warn the other person but failed. So he makes an explanation (or an excuse) that he planned to warn him just now but this thing has already happenned.
- Ай! Я упал со стула!
- Да я хотел как раз тебя предупредить, что у него сломана ножка.

Да, кстати, "каждый раз, когда я наталкиваюсь..."

"Как раз" - we speak so, when we speak about some coincidence.

- Дайте мне три гайки.
- Пожалуйста, как раз три осталось.

"У меня есть цветная открытка - "Псковские дали". И вот я оказался здесь. Мне хочется спросит - это дали?
В общем-то, дали, - говорю"

Как перевести "В общем-то" на английском

Спасибо

Originally Posted by Simon000001

Как перевести "В общем-то" на английском

"Generally speaking" or "in some sense"

This expression shows some uncertainty or inexactness. Also it is a widespread parasite phrase.

I'd say the closest translation is "actually" or "just about"
"Как раз" means "I was almost to say (to do, to buy, to wish, to see, and etc.) it now"

Здравствуйте!
"Я сидел, облитый кровью, томатом и малофьей"
Что такое малофьей?
Спасибо.

Ответы@Mail.Ru: что такое малофья
I don't think anyone should use this word. I, personally, have never heard it.

Малафья - сперма. Просторечное слово, часто считается обсценным.

Здраствуйте,
"К чему это ведет, уже хорошо видно на примере Московской области, которой придется почти год жить с исполняющим обязанности губернатора."
Что это исполняющая обязанность?
Спасиьо

Исполняющий обязанности — это работник (служащий), который фактически выполняет работу (временно) по определенной должности, не занимая ее.

Исполняющий обязанности => Deputy.

As in "deputy sheriff".

Hope it helps.