I was at the family cottage last Saturday. I took Maminka & her supplies for a long summer break, but also decided to try and cut the grass. Not as easy a job as it sounds, as it pretty much resembles a meadow on a slope. And it was hot. Very hot. So hot, even my sweat was sweating!
However, other than some breaks for food & plenty of drink, I worked solidly from about 9.30 and amazingly I managed to finish cutting the whole lot, which I really did not think I'd have the time to do! Maminka came to me & said, 'Seš údernik!' I had no idea what it meant, but I was one! 😀 She explained that it was a Russian term, and it meant that I'd worked 'something like a slave', but that wasn't totally it...
The next day, Petra & I met some friends, and we discussed it with them - one of them being an English teacher - but they were also not so clear. So, a quick search on the internet & we came upon this wonderful expression!
Basically, an údernik (udarnik in Russian) is a
'superproductive enthusiastic labourer'!
I know, it sounds a bit like 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious', but I think it absolutely typifies the intensity of my effort, not only to get the job done, but to enjoy it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ9Mh0yOj6k
The Book of Wikipedia informs us that: "An udarnik (Russian: уда́рник, IPA: [ʊˈdarnʲɪk]; English plural udarniks or udarniki), also known in English as a shock worker or strike worker (collectively known as shock brigades or a shock labour team) was a highly productive worker in the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc, and other communist countries. The term derived from the expression "udarny trud" for "superproductive, enthusiastic labour".
Finally, after all these years, I have discovered my super-hero identity! 😊
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