„Sirgalius“, „aistruolis“, „mėgėjas“, „fanas“

Jonas KLIMAVIČIUS SUPPORTER, ENTHUSIAST, AMATEUR, FAN For some time now, people have questioned the merits of the word sirgal ius—its Lithuanian character and the suitability of its meaning. There is considerable uncertainty about it; the issue is considered superficially, dealt with by guesswork, and various substitutes are being proposed, resulting in a confused, irrational jumble. It is therefore high time to investigate the matter thoroughly and discuss the suitability of synonyms or competing terms for sir galiaus. The fact that sirgal ius is a calque of Russian болельщик does not in itself prove that it is unsuitable. It is absent from the 1954 DŽ1. The minutes of the Terminology Commission of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, dated July 25, 1958, record: болельщик – sirgalius, sirgčius (V. Kazakevičius, A. Kučinskaitė, V. Labutis, Ch. Lemchenas, J. Macaitis, and A. Pranskėtis were present). However, the 1959 STŽ1 gives болельщик as aistruolis (sports enthusiast). Even so, aistruolis did not catch on at the time. The 1972 DŽ2 includes both sirgalius, defined as 1. “someone who is often ill, prone to illness,” 2. “a passionate spectator of sports competitions, a sports enthusiast, a fan,” and aistruolis, “someone who is passionate about something; an enthusiast, a fan”; even the sole illustration for entuziastas, “a person full of enthusiasm, carried away by an idea; an ardent devotee,” is sporto entuziastas (“sports enthusiast”; this phrase is a synonym for sense 2 of sirga liaus, while entuziastas⟧—aistruolio⟧—is itself a synonym in the definition of a fan). LKŽ XII, without citing any sources or examples of usage, relies on the 1972 DŽ2: sirgal ius 1. “someone who is often ill, sickly,” 2. “a passionate spectator of sports competitions, a fan.” Of the bilingual dictionaries, only the 1967 RLKŽ1 leaves out sirgalius: болельщик – aistruolis, sporto rungtynių mėgėjas. The others carefully include both sirgalius and aistruolis, without attempting to establish a standard. Incidentally, some take a very cautious approach: sirgal ius – болельщик (sports fan), whereas aistruolis – страстный человек in LRKŽ1; that is, aistruolis is acknowledged to have a broader meaning. Even the putative author of aistruolis¹ (in reality, perhaps merely the one who revived it) favors sirgalius: болельщик colloq. – (sports) sirgalius, aistruolis RLKŽ2, I. 1 See A. Sabaliauskas, Where Are They From? Vilnius, 1994, p. 11. 17 For the most part, only sirgalius was used. There were, of course, some grumbles, even from sports officials, but they were not very serious or well-founded, for example: “Isn’t it time we gave our spectator a much more honorable name [than sirgalius—J. K.]: amateur, admirer, connoisseur, specialist? Well, until linguists come up with a more ingenious name, we’ll make do with the old one” Šv 1981 3 27. It is telling, however, that aistruolis is not proposed as a replacement for sirgalius. Sirgalius is a calque. But let us return to Lithuanian and begin with the word to care. LKŽ XII to care 2. figuratively, “to worry, to be concerned” is illustrated very abundantly from a l l d i a l e c t s: Who else here would worry about your troubles Taurāgnai. Don’t worry about matters that aren’t yours Kvėdarna. What are you worrying about me for, look after yourselves Alantà. You don’t give a thought to your own troubles, you only worry about other people’s Skudūtiškis. Now we’re all concerned with one thing: how to teach the children better Marijampolė. Mother has now[r] started worrying about those potatoes Skaisgirys. If there’s nothing wrong, he’s always worrying about something Mielagėnai. There is also a sentence by J o n a s J a b l o n s k i s: You worry about us so needlessly. Kazimieras Būga’s example was not included: For, other friends of mine, Prof. Rev. A. Dambrauskas, Prof. Rev. P. Bučys, and Rev. J. Tumas (Vaižgantas), had noticed that I was concerned with linguistic matters, and that people even worried about me because of them K. Būg RR III 10. K. Būga’s researchers have repeated this more than once, for example: having found that Būga was deeply concerned with linguistic matters Z. Zinkevičius and J. Kabelka, – K. Būg RR I 25. In the dialects, apsirgti, persirgti are used similarly. Tirtu Normantas had never been so stricken as he was by love twice over. Vaižgantas. Troubles are like illnesses: you get over one, and another comes along Utenà. We’ve got the case behind us; things will be easier now. Dusetos. There are also some more unusual usages: Our Ona is in love with Petras (likes Petras). Álovė. The rare nouns sirgutė, sirgulėlė mean “heartache.” There are also meanings even further removed: apsirgti, “to put other people’s affairs in order, to look after them”: You look after everyone Taurāgnai; atsirgti, “to suffer for it”: I overexerted myself and hurried; afterward I had to pay for it. Vabalninkas; “to repay with hard work”: I repaid him for that grain: I helped with the communal work and dug potatoes. Taurāgnai. There are many serious examples of this kind of usage—to worry about what? and why?—in both older and newer writings, including those of J. Jablonskis, K. Būga, and Vaižgantas. Antanas 18 Around 1942, Jasmantas (the poetic pseudonym of the philosopher Antanas Maceina) wrote in verse: You heard a horse from a handful of oats Under an ancient oak in the open field And did not feel the wind blowing The little snakes of velvet curls You heard a horse from a handful of oats... And now I am lovesick for you: The wind blows your laughter to me And the thunder of silver horseshoes A. Jasm P 36 In 1948 Juozas Lukša (Skrajūnas, Daumantas) wrote: Their arrival in Lithuania solved the problem of communication with abroad, a problem from which the resistance then present in the country had suffered since the very first days of the movement KB 1995 4 68. Meilė Lukšienė writes: they hurried to live, vaulting over one another, suffering from social concerns J. Bit VKB 81. I am lovesick for the sea J. Kant KR 9, the poet versifies. Examples from periodicals are also plentiful: He was incurably afflicted with the sky T 1981 17 4. The Germans are simply crazy about work LA 1997 22 27. A lone head, wholly devoted to its company, can thwart all the bad aims of the transitions LA 1997 37 9. The director is not concerned with the company’s affairs; other things matter more to him LA 1996 219 9. The mayor and deputy mayor are “passionate” about cultural affairs LA 1996 65 17. DŽ1 gives without distinguishing the meaning: Don’t worry about me (don’t be concerned). DŽ2 distinguishes – sirgt 2. figuratively, “to be concerned”; DŽ3 – 2. figuratively, “to be concerned, to worry”: <...>, 3. figuratively, “to passionately support something.” To be a fan of “Žalgiris.” Next in the system comes liga—first of all from dialects. LKŽ VII liga 2. figuratively, “worry, trouble.” Oh, you are my trouble (a father says of his child, who causes him many worries)! Krosna. // “difficulty, unpleasant thing” Raseiniai, Er iškiai. △ to suffer from one’s own trouble “to worry over one’s own concerns.” Everyone has their own troubles Taurāgnai; to suffer from another’s trouble “to worry about someone else’s concerns”: Why are you worrying about someone else’s troubles? Anykščiai; to suffer from the same trouble “to live with the same concern as someone else” A 1883 72. 19 From serious writings: inspired by “Aušra” myself, I urged others, too, to look at Lithuania’s affairs through “Aušra’s” eyes, to proclaim to the young people of Lithuania the gospel it proclaimed; I, too, was somewhat “afflicted” by it J. Jabl R I 249. Some gymnasiums were simply “afflicted” in a good sense, I mean, they suffered from a literary malady Kazys Bradūnas, – Snt 1991 R 108. <...>one first falls ill with poetry, then with prose, and only last with drama, as if it were an ailment of old age Viktoras Miliūnas, – Nkn 1968 2 5. They say he dreams of Lithuania at night and thinks about her by day. He is afflicted with a love of his homeland KV 1992 33 3. Nor should we forget karštligė 3. figuratively, “fervor of activity, haste, busy season” DŽ₃. The system is completed by už(si)krėsti. LKŽ VI užkrėsti 8. figuratively, “to impart one’s mood, character traits... to someone; to pass to another, to take hold of another (of a mood, inclination)”: <...> // Just as poverty and illness are contagious, laughter and cheerfulness are also extremely contagious Jonas Jablonskis. His cheerfulness infected everyone Juozas Balčikonis. // refl.: Seeing my dress, they all caught the bug: I looked, and they had all had dresses made just like it Upytė. We, too, must take care not to be infected with lying Jonas Balvočius-Gerutis. From contemporary writings: R. Ramunienė managed to infect us so thoroughly with a love of French that we could hardly wait for her lectures LA 1997 108 14. Infected with the malady of archaeological exploration, <...>he devoted himself to collecting stone tools Z. Kos LŽ 54. <...> she had an incurable love of children. A good “malady” indeed TMkt 1968 18 1. That was when he caught the theatre bug LA 1997 100 27. Of course, one also encounters awkward, tasteless usage: When and how did you become a disturber of the peace and get infected with the Oginskis and other oddities? LA 1995 107 12. Some instances are on the level of occasionalisms: presents a token of appreciation to a “handball invalid” LA 1996 237 19. However, in general, the figurative meaning of the word sirgti is very broad and regular. It is also twofold in the field of sport—here, too, there is a distinction between what one is crazy about and whom one supports Compare: After these matches, the boys simply became obsessed with table tennis Šv 1968 3 20. The Netherlands is widely “crazy” about speed skating Sp 1968 33 4. And: At that time Spassky was playing Fischer, and I was rooting for Spassky LA 1996 24 19. Sometimes the contrast between literal and figurative meaning is even played upon directly: The spectator is 61 years old, suffered a myocardial infarction in 1973, and has been a “fan” of Kaunas “Žalgiris” for 30 years M ir T 1975 8 57. 20 And sirgalius is used not only in sports: a politics sirgalius LA 1996 219 5, an LTV sirgalius LA 1996 20 14, Jurgis Kunčinas, a [poetry] verse sirgalius Kr 1995 1-3 97, Vytautas Rubavičius, [pipe-smoking] sirgaliai LA 1997 103 20. The main users of sirgalius may also be somewhat aware of this duality, although the phrase sporto sirgalius is not used. In its literal sense, a multitude of names for agents have been or are used in dialects, dictionaries, and written sources, though they are generally rare: sargalius Žvr, Skr, NdŽ, sargalis BŽ 598, Rtr, NdŽ, sargulys J, sarguolys Blv; sergalis Sd; sirgalius DŽ₂, širgelis “one who has been ill” (Būk tu širgelis, būk nesirgelis – vis tiek mirsi Sb), sirguolis tsp, sirgalynė Grž, sirgčius Vlk, sirglys Lk, Ser. All of them have more or less pejorative meanings, not just sirgalius and sargalius: the pejorative meaning is not imparted by the suffix -alius; it belongs to the thing itself—frequent illness, falling ill easily, ill health. It is not the sleep-lover who is disparaged, but the long sleeping itself. But are winter-sleeping animals—žiemos miegalai M and G 1983 4 17—pejorative, if this is their physiology, their nature? And what of nemiegalis?! After all, derivatives with the suffix -ėlis also often have a pejorative meaning—apkjautėlis, ištvirkėlis, nebrendėlis—but some “always, or at least quite often, do not have a pejorative meaning: numirėlis, pabėgėlis, padėgėlis, paskendėlis, pavargėlis, pražuvėlis, suaudėlis, pasiryžėlis, pasišventėlis, persikėlėlis”². If there were no word with a neutral (or more neutral) meaning, perhaps sirgalius 1. would not have a pejorative meaning either. Where there is a neutral word ligonis, other names from the same root are pejorative—ligąšas Krš, ligąšius Škn, Šl, Kair, × ligaška Klov, Sdb, ligašnikas Ps, Pai, ligiza “invalid” Lzd, ligóčas J, ligóšius Ds, liguiša Grš (LKŽ VII). Since sirgalius, though systematic, is needed, and is a calque, it is interesting to look at the source. In D. Ushakov’s 1935 “Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language,” the meaning of болеть “to show compassion, to grieve, to care” is given as obsolete; only the phrase болеть душой is not marked obsolete. In the 1948 academic, large “Dictionary of Modern Russian Literary Language,” the meaning of болеть “to experience moral- 2 Lithuanian Grammar. V., 1965. Vol. 1. P. 318. 21 suffering; to worry, to care about someone or something”—without any label, whereas in the 1957 four-volume “Russian Dictionary” болеть is defined as “to feel anxiety, to worry; to suffer,” marked as figurative; its nuance, “остро переживать <...> в состязаниях,” is identified as colloquial usage. Болельщик is judged a poor neologism (нов. в просторечии) in the “Dictionary of Modern Russian Literary Language,” and explained as “a jocular nickname for a passionate spectator of sporting competitions, one who ‘болеющего душой’ for the participants”; over time, however, the “jocular” component of its meaning fell away—in the “Russian Dictionary” and S. Ozhegov’s “Russian Dictionary” (1989 edition), болельщик is already explained without “шутливое” and labeled a colloquial word. Aistruolis remained an entirely bookish word until quite recently—only now and then would some lover of less common words use it: Aistruoliams vadovavo savi dirigentai N 1971 8 57, Kęstutis Andziulis. I have never heard it used in everyday speech. The reasons are clear: 1) sirgalIus is, after all, an ordinary word; 2) aistruolis has no foothold in living speech, unlike sirgalius (the undesirable everyday-language associations of aistruolis will be discussed later). It is true that in standard usage over the past few decades, the word aistringas has generally been positive, for example: aistringas kovotojas DŽ₃, aistringas futbolo mėgėjas Šv 1980 22 30. Yet no one had forgotten žemų aistrų kurstymo LA 1993 56 7, while few had heard of tauriąsias aistras. In the old days, gentlemen disdained science. Rather than the seven liberal arts, they were interested in the seven noble passions: riding, swimming, archery, fencing, hunting, chess, and writing verse, <...> S. Mark NN 133. Even rarer, more individual is some grakšti aistra: Not the fruits of experience, but experience itself is the goal... To burn always with a fervent, noble flame, to sustain this ecstasy—this is life’s success... Everything melts beneath one’s feet, so it is better to pursue a graceful passion... which, high in the sky, frees the spirit for a minute and stirs the feelings KB 1993 1 55 (translation). In general, we see the whole aistrų scale, from automobiliomaniškos aistros Šv 1975 23 18 to knygų medžiojimo aistros KB 1993 1 39. From time to time someone tries to equate aistrą with hobiu, but probably without good reason: Italijos kara 22 lius was a passionate collector—a numismatist: he collected coins from every country. Knowing the king’s hobby (passion), Klimas presented the king with a collection of coins circulating in Lithuania T and N 1994 6 7. Cultural passion retains its position: Multimilijonierius[So-ros] gyvena paprastą gyvenimą ir yra žinomas kaip aistringas filo-sofas LA 1993 148 7; aistringas keistų, nenaudingu, bet gražių dalykų rinkėjas LA 1993 117 9. The step from the standard-language words aistra, aistringas to the semantics and pragmatics of aistruolio is very large and abrupt. There is no need to speculate or worry about how such usage of aistr os is received: Futbolas – nacionalinė brazilų aistra T 1980 138 4. Futbolas – milijonų aistra (title of Rimas Mackevičius’s book—“Vyturys,” 1990). However, a sports aistruolis is by no means someone who refrains from whistling or acting foolishly, cf.: fights had already broken out in the stands between the temperamental supporters of the two teams T 1990 105 4; one supporter was killed KmT 1988 93 4. He was kicked and beaten with fists by enraged football supporters LA 1996 164 19. Hot-headed “Žalgiris” supporters got into a fight LA 1997 39 18. These aistruoliai are unmistakably associated here with base aistromis (rather than with the noble aistra of sport): After calming the passions somewhat, the police had to evacuate the supporters to the ferries bound for England LA 1995 33 19. But passions flared up both on the field and in the stands. <...> there were no officers left by the visiting supporters’ section. The unrest continued for a long time. By the changing rooms, local supporters demanded “Resepov’s head” LA 1995 160 26. Of course, one should not assume that this cannot be characteristic of sirgal iams either. For example: When a hard-fought game is underway, passions spill over in the stands, and supporters even start settling with their fists which team is stronger LA 1995 24 18. In general, it is possible to jargonize quite inventively an entire group of sports terms, for example: The largest and most dangerous marketplace in Europe is considered to be Warsaw’s Tenth-Anniversary Stadium in the People’s Poland. Here, in sporting terminology, about 50,000 “s p o r t s m e n”—traders—and “s u p p o r t e r s”—buyers—gather every day. According to local statistics, most of them arrive from the East—<...>. The first to greet those arriving are the national “r e f e r e e s”— 23 marketers. Each of them serves only their own “team.” <...> “Basketball snatchers” are lurking for you. <...> They can stalk their “victims,” usually women, for hours, waiting for a handbag to be carelessly set down. When a woman is distracted by a purchase, her handbag ends up inside another, larger bag LA 1994 157 10. Enthusiast, before spreading in sports, very quickly became detached from it: enthusiast for old objects L and M 1971 10 10, aviation enthusiast T 1981 239 4, enthusiasts of ancient cultures N 1981 10 58, variety-show enthusiasts KB 1983 3 9, music enthusiast KmT 1987 22 3, “heavy metal” enthusiasts L and M 1988 16 4, film enthusiasts ŠA 1991 31 4, computer-game enthusiasts T and N 1994 6 4. Then even the primary semantic variant is sometimes used with an object—sports enthusiasts T 1984 193 4—although it exceeds all the others to such an extent that the modifier is unnecessary, except when specifying the sport: football enthusiasts, basketball enthusiasts. An enthusiast is sometimes not even associated with the object of enthusiasm being named: Professionals, would-be professionals and other enthusiasts keep tossing her project around in every which way, supposedly weighing it up, it is true, has aspirations for this KV 1990 47 2. One could talk endlessly about N’s fondness and skills for fishing. Enthusiast, professional LA 1997 200 27. Television broadcast Mass, while enthusiasts, thirsting to share in the joy of the feast, gathered on Juozapinė Hill to roll Easter eggs, undeterred by the raging wind and sleet Gkr 1989 13 3. Sentences in which the object is not even implied are very rare: It seemed that just a little more, and the gypsy enthusiast would toss a captivating rose to some charming young Lithuanian L 1995 36 4. Occasionally enthusiast even carries a very positive meaning: Her [the story’s] favorites are enthusiasts, intemperate, striving toward adventure in thought and deed Š. Cveig ERTT 17. But negative evaluations are also plentiful: He looks with undisguised contempt at football and pop-music enthusiasts KmT 1987 22 3. Well, that was just the kind of “balm” the crowd of enthusiasts needed... LR 1990 157 3. Now “political enthusiasts” have run out of steam, and we can get on with cultural and national work LA 1996 158 11. <...> distracted, charming, poetically inclined Western leftists kiss “progressive” terrorism on the lips. Why so many enthusiasts? 24 Where do such sentiments for murderers come from, when they answer all accusations with one demagogic little incident? Dnvd 1997 19 5. In fact, in the photograph we see <...> injured by enraged “Jedinstvo” supporters T 1990 95 4. <...> party enthusiast Albertynas LA 1995 55 5. Even a genuine language purist sometimes reproaches purity enthusiasts GK 1992 8–9 13. Above all, one must remember that dialects are still alive, and what passion means in them. LKŽ I₂ passion 1. “strong attraction to something, desire, lust”: Passion came over his heart, that is, noglas (sudden; intense) desire J. You can control your passions Trg. <...>. 2. “frenzy, madness”: The dog went into a frenzy Ms, Šts. When frenzy takes hold, it bites and tears at even the people at home Brs. / The animal’s passion (mating season) has begun J. Jabl. In LKŽ I₁ the order of meanings is reversed, and the explanation also differs somewhat—2. “desire, lust, heat, mood.” Note also the verb aistruotis 1. “to be in heat”: The mare is in heat Šts. DŽ₃ also defines passion as 1. “strong attraction, desire”: Passion cooled. Fiery, destructive, harmful, irresistible passion. Control one’s passions. Give free rein to one’s passions. 2. colloq. “frenzy, attraction” [DŽ₁ and DŽ₂: “attraction”]: The dog went into a frenzy. There is little spirituality to be found here... Even the “Dictionary of Psychology” (V., 1993) changes little: passion (Russian страсть, English passion)—“a strong, enduring feeling that encompasses the entire personality and directs all a person’s aspirations and energies toward a single object. <...>. Passion may be caused by bodily drives, views, or ideas; passion may also be pathological in origin (for example, resulting from the paranoid development of a personality). <...>” Thus, a passion-enthusiast is used in this sense as well: Among the young, 2.8 percent are ardent enthusiasts who make love every day. R 1990 272–275 31. Such is the true, original enthusiast, recorded in Lithuanian lexicography perhaps for the first time in 1929 in the large “Deutsch-litauisches Taschenwörterbuch” by A. Šolc and J. Talmantas, published in Klaipėda—as the equivalent of German Wollüstling. Rainer Eckert had already pointed this out in 1974, having failed to find aistruolis in LKŽ I₁, although it is listed in Aleksandras Kuršaitis’s dictionary as taken from A. Šolc and J. Talmantas’s dictionary³. On examining 3 E c k e r t R a i n e r. On the development of the Lithuanian literary language during the Soviet period. – Contributions to Sociolinguistics. Halle-Saale, 1974. P. 131. 25 The gaps in the sources of LKŽ notwithstanding, Wollüstling – gašluolis, aistruolis is also found in later German-Lithuanian dictionaries—by Vk. Gailius and M. Šlaža, Vokiškai-Lietuviškas žodynas. Klaipėda, 1932 [LKŽ uses the abbreviation GŠ], and Vokiškai lietuviškas žodynas / newly prepared by K. Alminas. K., 1943. Thus, in 1955 aistruolis had been used at least for the fourth time. Thus, unexpectedly, aistruolis turned out to be 26 years older, proved ambiguous, and after nearly 70 years of existence may still only be searching for its place. Indeed, the ill-considered disparagement of the well-established, systematic calque sirgal ius and the sudden promotion of the unfamiliar aistruolis, which later turned out to be ambiguous, coinciding as it did with a period of upheaval in language habits, caused uncertainty and created a gap in usage into which further synonyms and competitors flowed, not all of them necessarily desirable. These are primarily foreignisms and exoticisms such as fans, torsidas and the like, imported into Lithuanian reality: “Bangos” fans LA 1992 89 15; “Banga” is thus supported by its tireless “torsida” LA 1992 180 11. Exoticisms are justifiably used only for local color, e.g.: a multi-million-strong torsida LR 1990 116 3, the passionate torsida LA 1990 24 4, Brazilian torcedores (supporters) Šv 1982 12 28. However, moderation is needed, along with care to use properly adapted and authentic forms: tifozas (Italian tifoso: tifo “typhus”; motivated rather by the symptom of typhus—tifomania—delirium caused by typhus); torsidoras (Portuguese torsidoro, originally “bullfight spectator”) and shortened forms—the collective singular torsida and torsidos, afisionadas (Spanish aficionado, plural aficionados, originally “bullfight spectator”). Fans had until now been regarded by dictionaries and in more formal usage as an Anglicism (English fan – abbreviation of fanatic): fan – enthusiast, amateur, sports supporter ALKŽ, supporter in sports – abbrev. football supporter – football fan, enthusiast (sports enthusiast) – fan LAKŽ. In usage, fans did not seem especially exotic, while their derogatory connotation was undeniable: Football fans. A mix of punk arrogance and skinhead aggression. These young people turn football grounds into gladiatorial arenas LA 1992 61 10. English fans caused riots in Malmö LA 1992 116 2. However, the use— 26 The old one is fading, assessments are unstable. I will return to usage and assessments later. The most unexpected, perhaps even imposed, candidate is bildukas. The way it was set in circulation (rather than having begun to spread!) is truly worthy of a society that has lost its chains but has not yet caught its breath. Here is an excerpt from the letter “What if ‘bildukai’?”: “I read the article by V. Mundrys, a TV sports commentator for ‘Kalba Vilniuje,’ entitled ‘That Rough Daily Bread,’ in which he regrets that we do not have a good name for a sports enthusiast, like the Italian ‘tifosi,’ for example. The idea came to me the very next day, on my way to Žalgiris Stadium <...>. On the way I came across a group of supporters from the southeast stand who, in a festive mood, armed with drums and trumpets, decked out in white-and-green regalia and national tricolors, were going to support their favorites. Hearing the thumping of their drum, I imagined a group of bildukai—nimble, sprightly rascals from our folklore who never rest until they get their way. <...>. So, what do you think, dear readers: what about ‘bildukai’? <...>” Sp 1988 111 2, K. Dainiūnas (language uncorrected). And then it began: Lithuanian athletes have recently stung the Yugoslav bildukai painfully so many times R 1990 58 6. In the book “Among the Thugs,” published in London, its author Bill Buford writes about football supporters, who abroad are most often called fans, but in Lithuania are nicknamed bildukai LA 1993 9 9. Perhaps this is precisely what was said—they are nicknamed that, rather than calling themselves that. What business is it of anyone’s to name the spectators in the famous southern stand?! Yet the mythical noisy spirit R 281, K. K. Donel, Blv, Skr “hobgoblin, sprite, little devil” LKŽ I₁ quite aptly replaces the poltergeist: POLTER-GEIST, translated from German, would mean “a spirit that makes a racket and creates a noisy commotion,” or in Lithuanian, a noisy spirit VŠ 1990 2 8. It is now no secret that the Earth is surrounded by various waves; they rise from the lithosphere to the ionosphere and return from there. It is quite possible that peculiar energy channels—waveguides—are formed, along which the spirits of the dead travel. <...>. Lithuanians called these spirits, and we still call them, noisy spirits. They seem to want to announce their presence T 1990 139-140 6. It is not frightening to call an especially serious night owl a noisy spirit<: I don’t know how many people listen to the late-night program now. >... About 27 just had to speak by telephone to the studio bildukai <...> with sleepless <...> citizens KV 1990 16 4. But I think football spectators will never agree to be bildukai—the Gulag-era meaning of bildukas will prevent that: We should properly mention “urkas” (thieves) and “bildukai” (informers). Our days in that place would not be properly understood without these Stalinist workers... LA 1990 114 3. <...> he himself admitted that, while working as a KGB informant for three years, he drank away the “bildukas’” pennies R 1990 266 1. It is time to draw conclusions and sum things up, although, judging by usage, it may not yet be quite time for final conclusions. For now, just this: 1. Sirgalius could not be displaced; sirgal(i)us remains in sports and general usage—as “a passionate spectator of sports competitions, a sports enthusiast, a supporter” DŽ₃. Aistruolis has gained a foothold, but its use in sports and elsewhere is unsettled; DŽ₃ defines it rather vaguely as “someone who has a passion for something, an enthusiast.” The 1996 STŽ₂ tries to cast a wider net and make further distinctions: 1) s p o r t o m ė g ė j a s—English sports fan, German Schwärme, Sportfreund, Fan; Russian болельщик—“a person interested in one or several sports or in the entire sports movement. A sports enthusiast attends competitions and gathers information in various ways about a favorite sport or the sports movement.” Cf. sirgal(i)us, aistruolis, fanatikas; 2) a i s t r u o l i s ↗ sporto mėgėjas; 3) s i r g a l i u s—English fan, German Fan, Sportfreund; Russian болельщик—“a sports enthusiast who cares about (is ailing for) the affairs of a favorite sport, team, or their country’s sports, attends sporting events, and supports their own side or simply good play, noble conduct by athletes, and sporting ideals”; 4) f a n a t i k a s (Latin fanaticus—inspired; fervent; fanum—temple)—English fanatic; German Fanatiker; Russian фанатик—1. “a person who passionately and fervently supports a team; sometimes showing disrespect toward opponents and referees.” Cf. aistruolis, sirgalius, sporto mėgėjas (2. “a person with radical beliefs who deeply hates people of other faiths; a fanatic”; it also includes fanatizmas—“passionate, blind devotion to one’s beliefs; reckless faith in the truth of a cause or idea. Fanaticism is associated with intolerance of others’ views and aspirations. It is unacceptable in sport because it is incompatible 28 with the fundamental principles of Olympism as a social phenomenon.”) In fact, the words of Adomas Mickevičius would be apt here, though spoken on another occasion: “Indeed, happy are those <...> who are convinced that, having acquired a dictionary, they have in their pocket a tribunal capable of resolving the most subtle disputes” (Adomas Mickevičius. Lyrika. Baladės. Poemos. V., 1975. P. 342). Let the dictionary be a guardian of tradition, a witness to usage, and a seeker of a sensible way out. Two main and distinct categories are quite clear: sports enthusiast, who likes and takes an interest, and sirgalius, who suffers for sport and for the team. If a sirgalius suffers, that is already a sign of the system’s strength. There is no disparagement here, nor any need for glorification, and a sense of humor is healthy. Sirgalius has even been included in the “Dictionary for Primary-School Children” by Jonas Paulauskas and Gražvydas Kirvaitis (K., 1992. P. 20). 2. And what does an aistruolis do? There is still no answer. To have a passion, to be passionate—that is only half a step; besides, progress may have been more successful in other fields than in sport. A. Budrys and R. Delkus tried to pin it down, but did not quite succeed, in their 1984 article “Five Types of Supporters”: “The fifth type includes enthusiasts—people simply immersed in sporting events. They are interested in every competition, all the information” T 1984 264 4. Usage has taken a quite different turn, although it remains unsettled. And one can only regret that, because of that aistruolis<, we now have such a muddle of usage: These matches were watched by 6,800 football enthusiasts, about a third of them from Lithuania. Relations between the locals and supporters from our country were warm and friendly, and no incidents occurred. But in sector 15, where the most passionate Lithuanian fans were seated, there were quite a few conflicts with the Latvian police. Although the young Lithuanian football supporters are no angels, >...< our supporters were attacked >...<. As a result, about a hundred Lithuanian football supporters had to seek help >... LA 1992 158 11. So instead of one sirgalius, we have a four-word semantic jumble, in which none of the five types are discernible... And it often goes like this: <...> about a thousand spectators gathered, <...>. <...> there was no hint of any supporter-related incidents <...> (18 Lithuanian fans sat right next to the Latvian supporters), <...> LA 1995 107 19. The fans of “VLPFK–Sirius” crushed the “Inkaro–Grifo” supporters 18–1 in a match in the supporters’ championship LA 1995 89 19. Where are the five types here, or even two or three? Where else is usage so loose? Or 29 No time to paraphrase: three Lithuanians—five terms? 3. By including fanatic and remembering to add that “sometimes he shows disrespect toward opponents and referees,” while fanaticism is “unacceptable in sport, since it is incompatible with the principles of Olympism <...>,” STŽ₂ leaves no door open at all for the fan. DŽ₂, taking a broader view, also points out the omission of fanatic—sense 2, figurative: “a person who devotes himself very zealously to some task, cause or idea, and takes no interest in anything else.” Thus, fanatic is used not only in sport: a true art fanatic N 1981 4 44; only a few of those first theatre fanatics remain L and M 1983 22 12. So a fanatic can be an athlete as well as a supporter—positive and negative—whereas a fan is only a supporter who seems positive to himself. STŽ₂ deliberately did not include enthusiast, although it does include enthusiasm—“a state of great spiritual uplift and resolve. Enthusiasm helps one attain a set goal.” As mentioned right at the beginning, STŽ₁ had aistruolis (a sports enthusiast), while DŽ₂ (and DŽ₃) gives just one example for enthusiast: sports enthusiast. However, an enthusiast is usually not a spectator or supporter, but an athlete (or another active participant, rather than someone sitting on the sidelines): running enthusiast Šm 1977 4 46, hang-gliding enthusiasts T 1981 239 4. Of course, one can also support a team enthusiastically during rare moments of extraordinary spiritual uplift (for example, one’s national team), but it is in no way appropriate to associate bright, noble enthusiasts with the limited, blind fans. Abbreviations ALKŽ – English-Lithuanian Dictionary / Compiled by A. Laučka, B. Piesarskas, E. Stasiulevičiūtė. V., 1975. K. Būg RR – B ū g a K. Rinktiniai raštai. V., 1958, T. 1. V., 1961, T.3 J. But VKB – B ū t ė n a s J. Vinco Kudirkos bendrąžygiai. V., 1993. Š. Cveig ERIT – C v e i g a s Š. Erazmo Roterdamiečio triumfas ir tragedija / Vertė R. Jonynaitė. V., 1991. Dnvd – “Dienovidis.” DŽ – Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas: DŽ₁ – I leid., V., 1954. DŽ₂ – II leid., V., 1972. DŽ₃ – III leid., V., 1993. GK – “Gimtoji kalba.” Gkr – “Gimtasis kraštas.” J. Jabl R – Jablonskio raštai. K., 1932, T. 1. A. Jasm P – J a s m a n t a s A. Poezija. V., 1992. 30 J. Kant KR – Kantautas J. Kranto randai. Klaipėda, 1994. KB – “Cultural Bars”. KmT – “Komsomol Truth”. Z. Kos LŽ – Kosidovskis Z. Lisipo žirgai / Vertė J. Ragauskas. V., 1968. Kr – “Coasts”. KV – “Language Vilnius”. L – “Lithuania”. LA – “Echo of Lithuania”. LAKŽ – Piesarskas B., Svecevičius B. Lietuvių-anglų kalbų žodynas. V., 1979. L ir M – “Literature and Art”. LKŽ – Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language. V., 1941, Vol. 1, 1st ed. V., 1968, Vol. 1, 2nd ed. V., 1962, Vol. 6. V., 1966, Vol. 7. V., 1984, Vol. 12. The article also uses abbreviations from this dictionary. LR – “Lithuanian Morning”. LRKŽ – Lyberis A. Lietuvių-rusų kalbų žodynas. V., 1971. S. Mark NN – Markišas S. Niekam nenusileisiu / Vertė M. Žilionienė. V., 1969. MedŽ – Astrauskas V., Biziulevičius S., Pavilonis S., Vaitilavičius A., Vileišis A. Dictionary of Medical Terms. V., 1980. M ir G – “Science and Life”. M ir T – “Science and Technology”. N – “Nemunas”. NKn – “New Books”. R – “Republic”. RLKŽ1 – Russian-Lithuanian Dictionary / Prepared by V. Baronas, V. Galinis. V., 1967, Vol. 1. RLKŽ2 – Russian-Lithuanian Dictionary / Compiled by Ch. Lemchenas. V., 1982, Vol. 1. Snt – “Santara” (R – autumn issue). Sp – “Sportas”. STŽ1 – Dictionary of Sports Terms / Responsible editor V. Steponaitis. V., 1959. STŽ2 – Dictionary of Sports Terminology / Prepared by S. Stonkus. K., 1996. ŠA – “Šiaurės Atėnai”. Šm – “Šeima”. Šv – “Švyturys”. T – “Tiesa’. T ir N – “Taip ir ne”. TMkt – “Tarybinis mokytojas”. VŠ – “Vasario 16”. The numerals throughout indicate years, issue numbers (Roman numerals indicate volumes), and pages. 31