Slovene (Dec 2013)
Some Etymological Notes on the Russian Seminarian Slang: VZʺEFANTULITʹ, SMOROZITʹ, AKSIOS(Y)
Abstract
These three separate notes are united by the fact that the words considered originated from Russian seminarian slang and borrowed from Greek, with the first two words illustrating unobvious, punning Graecism. The rare verb vz"efantúlit' ‘to subject smb. to cruel punishment’ (and its derivatives vz"efantúlka, vz"efantúlivan'e) is related to the Biblical Semitism ἐφφαθά (Mark 7.34), which was read “by Erasmus spelling” (cf. Latin eppheta) and passed through a series of word-building transformations. The verb smorozit' ‘to say smth. stupid or inappropriate’ has additional arguments in favor of its origin from contamination of Greek μωρός and Russian морóз in a Russian seminarian or gymnasial environment. The author has also extensively traced the way this verb is defined in dictionaries and researched by other scholars. Finally, an essay on the word áksiós ‘church acclamation «He is worthy!»’ (from Greek ἄξιος) and its comic figurative pl. aksiósy ‘hair’ considers the whole history of the usage of these lexical units in all registers of the Russian language, including dialects.
