2017-03-09

косяк has three entries in Кузнецов’s dictionary [1]: the first one meaning брус дверной или оконной рамы; the second гурт кобыл с одним жеребцом; and the third сигарета или папироса с наркотическим веществом. That’s not how people use it around me. They use it in the singular or in the plural, косяки, to mean something like problem, hassle. Wiktionary does mention this possibility, saying it also means неудача, ошибка, неприятность. Although the semantic relation between the colloquial meaning and the three entries given by Кузнецов may seem elusive at first, it’s easier when one considers that the pieces of wood that make up the first косяк meet at an oblique angle (it seems that equivalents would be English jamb, Portuguese guarnição), and something oblique can’t really be good. I would venture a guess and say that the colloquial usage doesn’t stem directly from the door or window jambs, but from the fact that косяк is a noun derived from косой, that speakers are aware of it, and that the latter has negative, oblique connotations. Шанский confirms the genetic relationship (not the semantic one) [2], and both he and Vasmer state that косой is related to коса, not the hairdo but the scythe. Neither are very enthusiastic about it, but it seems that these words are related [3][4] to Latin castro, to castrate [5], and Greek κεάζω, split, cleave wood [6]. In this case, some modern English words that might be derived from the same Latin root as castro would be castle, chaste and incest [7].

  • [1] косяк. С. А. Кузнецов, Большой толковый словарь русского языка. Грамота
  • [2] косяк. Н. М. Шанский, Этимологический словарь русского языка. ΛΓΩ
  • [3] коса. Max Vasmer, Этимологический словарь русского языка. ΛΓΩ / Starling
  • [4] коса. Н. М. Шанский, Этимологический словарь русского языка. ΛΓΩ
  • [5] castro. Lewis, Short, Latin Dictionary. LS
  • [6] κεάζω. Liddell, Scott, Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon. LSJ
  • [7] kes-. The American Heritage Dictionary Indo-European Roots Appendix. AHD
  • Russian: Тут будет не полный список косяков Александра, моего прораба.
  • Russian: Еще один косяк из Прямой линии с Владимиром Путиным. Обратите внимание на человека с метлой на заднем плане. Режиссеры не заметили, что у него ус отклеился.
  • Russian: Предлагаю тему: какие “косяки” находили в приобретенных авто?
  • Russian: На какие косяки покраски обратить внимание при покупке?