Mediaboss Marketing

By Michele A. Berdy

Published: March 28, 2012 (Issue # 1701)

Commuter: ,

Common wisdom has it that when anew object or concept appears ina language milieu, thespeakers ofthat language get cracking andcome up with aname forit.

Sometimes inRussia, people take theeasy route they just Russify theforeign name. So that electric box onyour kitchen counter is called (toaster).

Sometimes they come up with ahomegrown name or several. Garlic presses are called , (both derived fromthe word forgarlic andthe verb topress), (literally press forgarlic), or even (literally garlic juicer). Atsome point inthe future, thevast Russian nation will, insome mysterious unspoken way, come toan agreement, andone ofthose names will stick.

But sometimes there is atime lag between theappearance ofa phenomenon anda word forit.

Take commuting, commuters andcommutes. Every morning andevening, theroads leading inand out ofevery major Russian city are packed bumper tobumper with commuters who live outside thecity limits andcommute every day toand fromwork. Thephenomenon definitely exists. Andyet speakers ofRussian apparently dont feel theneed tocome up with away todescribe it ina word or two.

InRussian, acommuter is , (someone who travels towork froma suburb tothe city every day). Thequestion How long is your commute? might be ? (How much time do you spend getting towork?). Or themore informal: ? (How long does it take toget fromhome towork?)

That said, there are ways todescribe various means ofcommuting inRussian. Acommuter train is . Acommuter bus is . Acommuter parking lot is (literally intercept parking).

More:
the word’s worth: A phenomenon missing from the dictionary