# (просто) примус починяю



## Redram

Could anyone answer two questions about "примус починяю" (e.g., "сижу, никого не трогаю, (просто) примус починяю")?: (1) What exactly does it mean, apart, that is, from the purely literal meaning of the words?; and (2) Where does the expression come from (e.g., Russian folklore, Russian literature)?


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## Tazzler

It is a quote from Bulgakov's famous The Master and Margarita (or at least inspired by it).


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## morzh

Redram said:


> Could anyone answer two questions about "примус починяю" (e.g., "сижу, никого не трогаю, (просто) примус починяю")?: (1) What exactly does it mean, apart, that is, from the purely literal meaning of the words?; and (2) Where does the expression come from (e.g., Russian folklore, Russian literature)?



Exact phrase is: "*Не шалю, никого не трогаю, починяю примус*". Literally: "I am not doing any mischief, not touching anyone, fixing the primus".
"Primus" is a brand name of a pressurized kerosene stove/campstove that became a genericized trademark and was widely used in the former USSR (and prior to that in Russia) as a name for a one-burner kerosene range.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primus_stove

As said before, it is a phrase by "Бегемот (Behemoth, though litrerally "a hippo")", the cat from the hell, a minion of the Satan (Voland), from Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita".


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## ahvalj

I can recall some other examples when the brand name became a general term for a kind of items: унитаз (Unitas x таз), ксерокс, Jugendstil, stile Liberty, to name a few.


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## Redram

Many thanks to everyone who responded.


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## morzh

ahvalj said:


> I can recall some other examples when the brand name became a general term for a kind of items: унитаз (Unitas x таз), ксерокс, Jugendstil, stile Liberty, to name a few.



Yes. This is called "genericizing".

For example, "Jeep" is the popular one, though outside the US where it is only used towards actual AMC/Chrysler vehicles, and the rest is known as SUV; in Russia they are all "jeeps".

Also "Frigidaire" - it was so popular that in 30-s - 40-s-50-s people used "frigidaire" towards all refrigerators. It did transform in today's "fridge".

Many things, some from our childhood, are genericized names.
The following are a few I could think of right off the bat:


Кеды.
Эскалатор.
Керосин.
Термос.
Памперс.
Граммофон.
Динамик.
Линолеум.
Наган.
Рубероид.



И многое другое.


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## Maroseika

At least линолеум, рубероид and граммофон are not from a trademark or company name.


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## morzh

Maroseika said:


> At least линолеум, рубероид and граммофон are not from a trademark or company name.



Really.

Рубероид - трейдмарк компании Ruberoid Building Materials (компания создана в начале 20-го века. Рубероид поставлялся в СССР как импортный материал, потом сами стали делать).
http://www.ruberoid.co.uk/pages/ruberoid_homepage/default.aspx

Линолеум:
Linoleum was invented by Englishman Frederick Walton. ......
At first Walton called his invention "Kampticon", which was deliberately close to Kamptulicon, the name of an existing floor covering, but he soon changed it to Linoleum, which he derived from the Latin words _linum_ ("flax") and _oleum_ ("oil"), and in 1864 established the *Linoleum Manufacturing Company Ltd*., with a factory at Staines, near London. 


Граммофон:
History  The UK *Gramophone Company* was founded by William Barry Owen and his partner/investor Trevor Williams in 1897 as the UK partner of*Emile Berliner**'*s United States based United States Gramophone Company, which had been founded in 1892. In December 1900, William Owen gained the manufacturing rights for the Lambert Typewriter Company and The Gramophone Company was for a few years renamed to the *Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd*.


(*Emil Berliner* is the inventor of the device he called "gramophone"). Then at the turn of the century, Emile Berliner initiated the transition from phonograph cylinders to gramophone records:  flat, double-sided discs with a spiral groove running from the  periphery to near the center. Other improvements were made throughout  the years, including modifications to the turntable and its drive  system, the needle and stylus, and the sound and equalization systems.


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All references are from Wikipedia.


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## morzh

This is offtopic anyway - I made a notice about the primus just to explain what it is and how it is.


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## morzh

This is offtopic anyway - I made a notice about the primus just to explain what it is and how it is.

What I forgot to add, is that "*починяю*" is strictly colloquial word; the "good" one is "чиню / ремонтирую".


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## Maroseika

morzh said:


> Really.


I'm far not sure Russian words are really from the companies names, given them after the conventional materials or device names.
But since this is really off-topic, let's leave it alone.


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## Redram

Let me be more specific about my original query. The context is a discussion which centers on which is correct: "путинский режим" or "Путинский режим". Here is the quote: "Я даже не задаюсь вопросом о том, каким образом "презрительная экспрессия" по отношению к режиму разжигает межнациональную рознь. Мне случалось читать в других подобных лингвистических заключениях простодушние объяснения: автор, мол, ругает власть, а власть русская по преимуществу, а значит, автор разжигает ненависть к русским. Тут мне все понятно. Я только примус починяю, мне про строчную букву интересно". (Ирина Левонтина. Русский со словарем, с. 233) How could one best render in English the (metaphorical) sense of Bulgakov's quote?


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## Maroseika

She meant she did not care about Putin's regime, Russophobia and all, she had nothing to do with all the jazz; the only issue she is interested in is "upper case or lower case".


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## morzh

Maroseika said:


> She meant she did not care about Putin's regime, Russophobia and all, she had nothing to do with all the jazz; the only issue she is interested in is "upper case or lower case".



Second that.
Basically the saying "примус починяю" means the same as "мимо проходил" (I was just walking by), "моя хата с краю" (my house is in the outskirts), "меня здесь вообще нет" (I'm not even here) - "It's none of my business, I don't care, I'm not even here. Don't mind me".


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## Redram

Many thanks, Maroseika and morzh.


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## Albertovna

Моя хата с краю, ничего не знаю.
Я не я, и лошадь не моя.
Моё дело сторона.
Моё дело маленькое.


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## Redram

Thank you for your input, Albertovna.


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