Dacha is a Word in English

It's summer now, so a lot of my students here in Moscow are relaxing and taking it easy at their dachas.

Dacha is an interesting word because it is one of relatively few loan words from the Russian language to make its way into English.

Actually, I'm lying--there are more such words than you might think, and you can find a long list
here:

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


Many of my students are surprised to hear that it is an official English word, and translate the Russian word dacha as summer house, country home or something similar. Yet here it is, listed in Websters if you don't believe me.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dacha

1. 
   
2. 
   

Main Entry: da·cha

Pronunciation: \ˈdä-chə also ˈda-\

Function: noun

Etymology: Russian, from Old Russian, land allotted by a prince; akin to Latin dos dowry — more at date

Date: 1896

: a Russian country cottage used especially in the summer

Because I'm lazy, I'm not going to write a detailed essay on the dacha; so much has been written already, for example, this entertaining and informative article

http://www.sras.org/russian_dacha

Please note the wonderful pun in the title "Dacha wanna be Russian"

If you say "Don't you want to be Russian" quickly, it comes out sounding like "Donchu wanna be
Russian" and hence the pun.

What I'm attempting here is simply to give my impressions and thoughts on a word that has become a part of the English language, and what that word means to me.

In the United States not many people have dachas, and I would guess that few know what this word means except those who have travelled to Russia, study Russian as a foreign language, or who live in communities where there are a lot of Russian immigrants. While growing up in Texas, however, it was common to buy or rent lake homes -- small vacation houses in the country next to a lake. My grandparents had one when I was growing up and I suppose you could call it a dacha, only it had indoor plumbing.

When I think of a Russian dacha, I think of a traditional small wooden house without indoor plumbing. One prominent feature of nearly every dacha I have visited is the outhouse. An outhouse is a small wooden structure that serves as an outdoor toilet.

Another important aspect of the dacha is the garden. Here, I should talk a bit about the word garden. In British English if you talk about the garden, it can often mean if not clarified, the grassy area in front of you house or behind it. In American English, this is called a yard -- front yard or backyard. For Americans, a garden if not specified usually is interepreted to mean a vegetable garden. Really, there are three common kinds of gardens: vegetable, flower or herb. Herbs are aromatic plants used for seasoning. In Russia the most popular herbs are dill and parsley. It's imporant to note that there is no such thing in English as a fruit tree garden. Fruit trees are found in an orchard.

I will be writing more about gardening in a future post, so stay tuned!

VOCABULARY
----------------
to take it easy = to relax
loan word = a word borrowed from another language
pun = a play on words.
lake home = a kind of vacation home (dacha) located near a lake
outhouse = an outdoor toilet
orchard = a "garden" of fruit trees
indoor plumbing = water, pipes, and toilet located indoors