# All Slavic languages: млявый



## Maroseika

*Млявый* - this is very old word (fixed, for example by V. Dahl), which meant - weak, flaggish person.
It derives from *млеть* - to faint from love, etc.
The root is common-Slavic, though there it is closer to медлить - omdleti, mdlec', etc.

However nowadays I hear in Russian this formerly rare word more and more often in quite new sense: 
*мляво* - blankly, dimply (about things, not persons).

I wonder if there is anything like that in other Slavic languages - any words of similar sense deriving from this root.


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## Tolovaj_Mataj

I'm not quite sure, if I'm writing about the same thing.

In Slovene

I have foun d a word *medel* in our ethimological dictionary, which comes from the CS *mъdlъ* (slow, weak).

*médel* dull, flabby, flaccid: dim; faint, slack;
*medlóst* faintness; flabbiness; flaccidity
*medléti* to languish; to pine
*omedléti *to swoon; to faint away, to have a fainting fit; to lose consciousness; to pass out, to black out, to have a blackout
*omedlévica* swoon; loss of consciousness; faint;


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## cyanista

What do you mean by "dimply"? 

In Belarusian млявы can mean lazy, slow, sleepy (also fig.). 

It is not only used to speak about people but also animals, objects and phenomena (млявы певень, рух, натоўп). One jocular expression is very popular: in response to "how you're doing" one would say in a pointedly apathetical voice "Агульная млявасць ды абыякавасць да жыцця."  

I can provide translations if necessary.


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## Thomas1

Maroseika said:


> *Млявый* - this is very old word (fixed, for example by V. Dahl), which meant - weak, flaggish person.
> It derives from *млеть* - to faint from love, etc.
> The root is common-Slavic, though there it is closer to медлить - omdleti, mdlec', etc.
> 
> However nowadays I hear in Russian this formerly rare word more and more often in quite new sense:
> *мляво* - blankly, dimply (about things, not persons).
> 
> I wonder if there is anything like that in other Slavic languages - any words of similar sense deriving from this root.


I think the Polish counterpart of _млеть_ is _mdleć, omdlewać_. The meaning is to faint, pass out, swoon.

There's one word that, I think, corresponds to your _мляво,_ it is _mdło. _It's not used very often but you hear it from time to time, I'd say that its more common derivative is _mdły _an adjective.
If you say _To jedzenie jest mdłe_. (this food is insipid). It would mean it isn't spiced and it's a kind of flavourless.

I remeber someone used not too long ago _mdło_ in the following situation:
During an interview a couple of dancers tells about their time, how they spend it, what they're doing, etc.; the woman says she's having fun they are doing interesting things, and the guy answers more or less along the lines:
_Jest tak ciekawie, że aż mdło._
I don't know if he really meant it or it just sort of blurted out, but the message was clear--everyone who would heard that would at once think that it was terribly bouring.
_Mdło _is also sometimes used in the expression _mdło mi się robi..._ which translates _I'm sick with..._


Tom


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## Kriviq

In Bulgarian there`s the word *мъгляв = vague, dim, obscure, unclear, etc.* It derives from *мъгла = fog*.


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## Maroseika

Kriviq said:


> In Bulgarian there`s the word *мъгляв = vague, dim, obscure, unclear, etc.* It derives from *мъгла = fog*.


This is, I guess, another root - мгла (darkness and also fog, haze, like in Bulgarian). 
Млявый is close to медленный (slow). Is there in Bulgarian derivatives from this root?


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## Maroseika

> cyanista said:
> 
> 
> 
> What do you mean by "dimply"?
> 
> 
> 
> Мутноватый
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Агульная млявасць ды абыякавасць да жыцця."
> 
> I can provide translations if necessary.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Yes, please.
Click to expand...


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## Kriviq

Maroseika said:


> Is there in Bulgarian derivatives from this root?



смугъл = swarthy, dark complected


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## Maroseika

Kriviq said:


> смугъл = swarthy, dark complected


I meant the same root as in медленный, млявый


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## cyanista

Maroseika said:
			
		

> Yes, please.


With pleasure. 

*млявы **певень* - lazy, drowsy rooster

*млявы **рух* - slow, dragging traffic 

*млявы **натоўп* - sleepy, inert crowd

*Агульная млявасць ды абыякавасць да жыцця* - a general lack of energy and an overall disinterest in life.


I'm afraid, dimply cannot mean мутный or мутноватый. It rather means having dimples, marked with dimples.

Мутный would be muddy or blurred, or something of the sort.


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## Tolovaj_Mataj

Thomas1 said:


> If you say _To jedzenie jest mdłe_. (this food is insipid). It would mean it isn't spiced and it's a kind of flavourless.


Sounds familiar. We would use the word _omléden_ = tasteless; insipid, flat; unsavoury; sentimental  
_Ta jed je omledna. _


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## cajzl

Czech: *mdlý *(adv. *mdle*)

About things it means: *dim, insipid*


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