OK, folks, here is today's Kwik Kommercial Kwiz: In what year was this statement
written?
Москва есть средоточие всей российской торговли и всеобщее хранилище,
в которое наибольшая часть входящих в Россию товаров стекается
(Moscow is the focus of all Russian trade and one huge repository for the
vast majority of goods entering Russia). If it weren't for a few peculiarities
of language, it sounds like it could have been said last Tuesday by a cranky
State Duma deputy from the provinces. But when was it written? 1781.
Then, now and for evermore, Moscow is the place in Russia where you can buy
everything, especially food.
The first trick is having the money to do it.
The second trick is knowing what to call the places you buy food. And to do that, it helps to take a detour back in time -- say 500 years or so -- to the days when Moscow's huge squares were covered with
торговые ряды (literally, "trading rows") and
лавки or лавочки (small stands or shops), each selling a particular food item.
You'd grab your basket and go to охотный ряд (hunter's row) to pick up some fresh game, and then stop at the
хлебная, молочная or зеленная лавка (bread, dairy or green grocer's shop). Before going home, you'd stop in the
бакалейная лавка (dry goods store) to pick up tea,
coffee, dry fruit and grains.
Today, people don't use the word лавка very often.
Instead, they usually use the French term магазин (store)
or its diminutive, магазинчик (little shop).
Я зашла в магазинчик за хлебом (I stopped at a little shop for bread).
But its ghost lingers on. For example, you still see signs for
булочная-кондитерская (bread and pastry shop),
where the adjectives булочная-кондитерская qualify the
noun лавка, but the noun is no longer used.
In the Soviet period, all those little shops disappeared and state food stores
took their places. They were still specialized food stores, but with generic
names: Сыр, Молоко, Мясо, Овощи и Фрукты (Cheese, Milk,
Meat, Vegetables and Fruit) or the ubiquitous Продукты
(Grocery). If you were lucky, there was a good универсам
(short for универсальный магазин) or
гастроном (supermarket) nearby. Both sold all kinds of food.
Today, you'd probably call the all-purpose grocery store in your neighborhood
продуктовый магазин. According to a highly unscientific
poll of Moscow and St. Petersburg food shoppers, the little vegetable and fruit
stands that look like derailed train cars are called ларьки
-- singular: ларёк -- and the open stands, often
covered with a tent or tarp, are палатки. I'd call both
stands or stalls, although I might describe the latter as farm stands if they
sold fresh produce. Рынок (market, farmer's market) is a
permanent food market. Ярмарка (fair, market) is usually a
temporary market that specializes in one product or group of products, like the
ярмарка мёда (Honey Fair), where producers from all over
the country bring their gooey goodies.
Now Russians are using English-derived words to describe their produce stores.
Unfortunately for us English speakers, the most common word --
супермаркет (supermarket) -- is something of a fair-weather friend. My
polled food shoppers described супермаркет as a place
where you can buy продукты и хозтовары (food and household
goods), like U.S.-style supermarkets. But you can also find
строительный супермаркет (building supply superstore) or
компьютерный супермаркет (computer superstore). You can also find
гипермаркет (hypermarket, superstore) and
мегамаркет (megamarket).
The opposite of all these mega-, super-, hyper- and otherwise gigantic retailers
is the торговая точка or точка (literally, "trading spot"
or "spot"). You can use these terms for anything from a retail outlet to a
vegetable stand to a point of sale at a cashier's counter.
Or perhaps whenever buying a treat hits the spot.
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.