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.