Archives for: January 2011, 28

По (часть вторая)

January 28th, 2011 by Don

We previously discussed the use of the preposition по in the sense of “on the subject of.” Another common meaning of по is to indicate the means by which information is communicated, in which case it is usually translated as “on” or “via” in English; in that meaning по governs the dative case:

— Ты читаешь газеты?
— Нет, теперь я узнаю свежие новости по Интернету.		 “Do you read the newspapers?”
“No, nowadays I get the latest news on the internet.”
— Как ты пользуешься Интернетом? По кабелю?
— Нет, по спутнику.		 “How do you use the internet? By cable?”
“No, by satellite.”
разговор по телефону a telephone conversation
— Мой парень вчера сказал, что он больше не любит меня.
— Ой, ужасно. Но по крайней он это сказал тебе прямо в лицо.
— Нет, в лицо не сказал. Он это сказал по телефону.
— Сволочь! Какой он трус!		 “My boyfriend told me yesterday that he doesn't love me anymore.”
“Oh, that's awful. But at least he told you to your face.”
“No, he didn't tell my to my face. He told me on the phone.”
“The bastard! He is such a coward!”
Если увидишь аварию в Америке, звони по телефону 911. If you see an accident in America, call 911.

Don's rant of the day: the idea that we are supposed to capitalize the word Интернет is completely assinine. I refuse to do it in English, no matter what the current stylistic guides say. Nowadays the internet is a generic means of communication, not a capitalizable company like MCI. Lower-case makes sense. But if you are someone trying to get a job somewhere and not get rejected because of ignorami professing current political correctness, then capitalize the word.

But in Russian I'll capitalize it cuz I don't wanna seem like an ignant furriner.

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