Otstavil - Put Aside

[emmanuelg]

10 June 2024 - Dream - Otstavil

 

I went to bed saying “I will dream a dream of the future.”

When I woke up this morning– Or rather, what woke me up this morning, was an image of a man standing in an upside-down quincunx (probability curve). He is facing left, and underneath this picture is a single word in Russian, “otstavil.” Here is the picture I drew after awaking;

 

I could not remember what the word meant. Google translate definition is “[He was/It was] put aside. It is masculine, past tense.

 

Я отставил is translated as “I put it aside” by Google Translate--

 

But when I ask Google Translate to translate “I put it aside” into Russian, I get:

 

Я отложил это в сторону which means something more like “I postponed it.”

 

“I left it there” is translated “Я оставил это там”– only one letter different.

 

I suspect Google translate has gotten this one slightly wrong–or my dream spelling is not great.

 

Отставил [infinitive Отставить] is related to the word ставить, meaning ‘to place upright.’

 

What does it mean?

 

Hmmm, I dunno. The upside-down probability curve may mean, “you think it’s improbable, but it’s not.” I have some minor concerns about losing my job. I think this is very unlikely, but perhaps I should take a closer look at these concerns.

 

On the other hand, why is the caption a Russian word that I don’t understand well, with a subtle meaning that eludes my dictionaries?

I feel it has something to do with the war in Ukraine.

In Ukranian, the word simply translates as ‘left,’ in the sense of something you discarded.

 

This is very mysterious. Probably will mean something to me someday, but just now I don’t have a clue.

Comments

[emmanuelg]

Hi Pat,
I think the Sunday prayers for Putin are a good idea. It may be a much more dangerous time in that conflict than most of us realize. I hear a lot of pundit opinions on news reports about 'Putin is probably bluffing about use of battlefield nuclear weapons' and 'if US weapons are used on Russia, probably a gesture at most in return', but the upside-down probability curve may mean that the assessments of what Putin will or will not 'probably' do are incorrect. Putin may take actions that catch the West unprepared.
In the big picture, Russia and Ukraine have had declining birth rates for years, and killing off large numbers of eligible bachelors may threaten their long-term cultural survival.

'Otstavil' is a very mysterious caption. I have been studying Russian with the Pimsleur Language program for several years, as I have a feeling that there will be refugees in my part of Canada who speak Russian and who may need medical help. I am slowly getting a feel for it, at least sometimes.

'Otstavil' is a verb in the past tense, past perfect I believe. Something that was done once and is not ongoing. It is also masculine. A man would say "Yah otstavil," while a woman would say "Yah otstavila" to say the same thing about themselves. "Ot" is a prefix that means 'from' at least some of the time--and can be a separate word at times.

Looking at the picture I drew when I woke up that day, it looks like I actually wrote 'ot stavil'-- Two words. What they might mean changes, depending on the context in which they appear.
'Yah ot stavil' (Yah = I, first person pronoun) means "I left it."
But change the "I" to a "He" -- 'On ot stavil' means "He put it away."
Change it to "they" -- 'Oni ot stavil' comes up as "They didn't put it" in Google translate.
If I add the word for "there" (tam), 'Oni tam ot stavil' comes out as "They put it there."

Add a negative 'ne', and 'Yah ne ot stavil' becomes "I didn't put it down."

The infinitive 'stavit-' means 'to put something upright in a particular place.'

Taking a step back from all that, if it is Putin, he may be thinking about making an announcement along the lines of "I have restored everything in Ukraine to its proper state," and calling the whole thing off.
This seems very unlikely, but he IS standing in an upside down probability curve....

[sinners4diseasecontrol]

Thank you for this analysis, Emmanuel! Your own insights into the meaning have the most meaning.

Actually, I have taught Russian. That is not a huge brag. I can get my students an overview of the grammar, a slightly flawed version of the phonetics, a mob of useful expressions and the confidence to use their knowledge to speak to native Russian speakers, from whence they can make greater progress. I'm in the middle of Bulgakov, looking up each and every word I don't immediately know, noting the stress, etc., and began corresponding with a Russian scientist recently as part of my EMR activism.
I think it is possible, if we look back far enough in the evolution of the Russian language, that the prefix "ot-" would have been considered separate from the verb, as it is with nouns. It would be possible even now to say "ot stavit'" with the infinitive acting as a noun, meaning "moving away from" or "starting from" positioning something. My far from native impression is that would be possible but awkward. With the past tense "stavil" it would be ungrammatical.
So what we have here would be a man (presumably Vladimir Vladimirovich) saying "I put it aside" or that a man put it aside or stood down. I've heard "otstav'/otstav'te" used to mean "Quit it!" (Yandex says "Leave it alone!" but also meaning "Leave me alone!" https://translate.yandex.com/?source_lang=ru&target_lang=en&text=%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%8C
As you have been studying Russian, it's likely you've seen the word and it stuck in your subconscious. That's actually an important part of the process of learning a language. Your mind treats it like a puzzle.

It would be useful to ask one of the native Russians like Daniil Adamov on Ecosophia what they make of it. I think the mystery will remain whether Putin will decide to stand down or persuade "Morgan" to. My bet is on Morgan, because he has less to lose from it, and Putin has never been a quitter.

But we'll see.

[emmanuelg]

Hopefully, the people who live there will find a way to do the right thing for all the people who live there. That's my prayer for them anyway!

[sinners4diseasecontrol]

I just added this to my Sunday prayer: Grant Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin the strength and courage to persuade people who may be emotionally distraught to stand down from a nuclear confrontation.

I like your prayer very much too. Thank you for sharing your dream!