В-16 • ВЕК ВЕКОВАТЬ obsoles, coll [VP; subj: human; usu. this WO] to spend one’s life or the rest of one’s life (in a humble position or circumstances, in one’s native—usu. humble—setting): X будет век вековать = X will live out his life (days).
.Уж лучше век одной вековать, чем с таким связывать свою жизнь. (Войнович 5). .Better to live out your life alone than to join it with someone like that. (5a).
В-17 • ВЕК ЖИВИ, ВЕК УЧИСЬ [saying] there are always things you do not know, you can keep learning throughout your life (said as advice to keep studying or, jokingly, when a person learns sth. he did not know before): = (you) live and learn; it’s never too late to learn.
В-18 • ДОЖИВАТЬ СВОЙ ВЕК [VP] 1. [subj: human] to live the end of one’s life (often used with an adv of manner, place etc): X доживал свой век = X lived out his life (days, last years); X lived out the rest of his life (days); X lived (spent) the last years of his life.
Больной, озлобленный, всеми забытый, доживал Козырь свой век. (Салтыков-Щедрин 1). Hotspur lived out his life sick, embittered, forgotten by all (1a).
2. [subj: concr, abstr, or collect] to fall gradually out of use: X доживал свой век = X lived (finished) out its days.
Трамвай доживал свой век вместе с этими домами. (Евтушенко 1). The tram had lived out its days together with these houses. (1a).
В-19 • ЗАЕДАТЬ/ЗАЕСТЬ век чей (ЖИЗНЬ чью, ЧУЖОЙ ВЕК, ЧУЖУЮ ЖИЗНЬ) all coll [VP; subj: human; usu. impfv] by oppressing s.o., doing harm to s.o., to make his life unbearable: X заедает Y- ов (чужой) век = X ruins (spoils, embitters) Y’s (another’s) life; X makes Y’s (another’s) life miserable; X torments Y (another person); X makes life a torture for Y (someone else).
[Любим Карпыч:] .Я бедных не грабил, чужого веку не заедал. (Островский 2). [L.K.:] .I didn’t rob the poor, I didn’t ruin another’s life. (2a).
В-20 • МАФУСАИЛОВ ВЕК жить, прожить, отжить; МАФУСАИЛОВЫ ГОДА (ЛЕТА) all obs, lit [NP; these forms only; obj] (to live) a very long life: (live) as long as Methuselah; (live to be) as old as Methuselah.
< From the Church Slavonic variant of the name of the Biblical patriarch Methuselah, who lived to be 969 (Gen. 5:21-27).
В-21 • МЫКАТЬ ВЕК (ЖИЗНЬ obsoles) substand [VP; subj: human] to have a hard life, suffer hardships: X мыкает век = X is struggling to get by (to keep body and soul to-
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gether); X is having a tough time of it; X has fallen on hard times; X is going through the mill; X is just scraping by.
В-22 • ОТЖИВАТЬ/ОТЖИТЬ СВОЙ ВЕК (СВОЁ ВРЕ-
МЯ) [VP; usu. pfv] 1. Also: ОТЖИВАТЬ/ОТЖИТЬ СВОЁ [subj: human] to have lived one’s allotted years: X отжил свой век = X has lived his life (share); [lim.] X has already had a long life.
.Мысли [Спиридона] были о дочери. Жена, как и он, отжили уже своё (Солженицын 3). .His [Spiridon’s] thoughts dwelled on his daughter. His wife and he had already lived their share (3a).
2. [subj: abstr or concr] to become out-of-date, go out of use, be no longer popular, in fashion: X отжил свой век = X has outlived its usefulness; X has outlived (had) its day; X has become passe (a thing of the past); [lim] X has seen better days.
Марксизм и прочие «измы» не привлекают молодые умы: «измы» отжили свой век (Аллилуева 2). Marxism and all other “isms” do not attract these young minds; “isms” have outlived their day (2a).
В-23 • ИСПОКОН (СПОКОН substand) ВЕКА (-ов,
-у obs); ОТ ВЕКА (ВЕКОВ) [AdvP; these forms only; adv; usu. used with impfv verbs; fixed WO] starting long ago and continuing up until the present (or the moment indicated): from (since) time immemorial; from (since) the (very) beginning of time; since time out of mind; from the dawn of time; for centuries.
.Какой-то человек вошёл на пустырь с косой в руках и начал сечь травяные рощи, росшие здесь испокон века (Платонов 1). .Some man came into the field with a scythe and began to hack away at the grass thickets that had grown there from time immemorial (1a).
В-24 • ЖИТЬ В ВЕКАх elev [VP; subj: human or abstr] to be remembered by posterity for a long time, always: X будет жить в веках = X will live forever; X will live (on) through the ages; X will never be forgotten.
В-25 • АДАМОВЫ ВЕКИ (ВРЕМЕНА) obs [NP; pl only] ancient times: the days of creation; antiquity; (from) time immemorial.
В-26 • Аредовы (Аридовы) вЕки жить, прожить
obs, lit [NP; pl only] (to live) a very long life: (live) as long as Jared; (live to be) as old as Jared.
< From the Church Slavonic variant of the name of the Biblical patriarch Jared, who lived to be 962 (Gen. 5:20).
В-27 • В КОИ-ТО (В КОИ) ВЕКИ coll [PrepP; these forms only; adv; most often used with pfv past verbs; when used with impfv or pfv fut verbs, usu. denotes a repeated action; fixed WO] finally, for the first time in a long period or after a long wait: at (long) last; after all this time; after an eternity (of waiting (of silence etc)); [of repeated actions] once in a blue moon; once in a great while.
«.Зачем ты это сделал [загнал полицмейстера в клозет]? Ты его не любишь?» — «Давайте об этом не будем», — предложил Виктор. «Так, а о чём же мы будем?.. В кои веки случилось что-то интересное, и сразу — не будем» (Стругацкие 1). “.Why did you do it [lock the police chief in the lavatory]? Don’t you like him?” “Let’s not talk about it,” proposed Viktor. “Then what will we talk about?. At long last something interesting happens, and right away we can’t talk about it” (1a). ♦ Ефим и Наташа приехали в субботу, как раз к тому дню, когда было решено накрыть
стол. В кои веки собрались все вместе. (Рыбаков 1). Yefim and Natasha arrived on a Saturday, the very day we had decided to “have a spread”—once in a blue moon the whole family got together. (1a).
В-28 • ВО ВЕКИ ВЕКОВ elev [PrepP; Invar; adv; usu. used with fut verbs or with verbs denoting a wish, promise etc; fixed WO] 1. Also: ОТНЫНЕ И ВО ВЕЖИ ВЕКОВ eternally, for all time: forever (for ever) (and ever); for ages on end; unto ages of ages; (for)evermore (for ever more); till the end of time.
А война 1812 года? Всегда и во веки веков она пребудет той, которая разворачивается на страницах «Войны и мира», несмотря на десятки фактических ошибок романа (Чудаков 1). What about the War of 1812? That war will forever remain the war that unfolds in the pages of War and Peace, despite dozens of factual errors on Tolstoy’s part (1a).