Let’s talk linguistics.
Summary:
- “Razbliuto” means “the sentimental feeling you have about someone you once loved but no longer do.”
- They say it’s a Russian word.
- Russian fans have never heard of this word, though.
Great Pretender: Razbliuto aired on February 23 and we’ve already talked about fans’ first impressions here. But now it’s time to talk about the name of the movie.
What is “razbliuto”?
Most English-language sources define the word “razbliuto” as “the sentimental feeling you have about someone you once loved but no longer do.” Fans found this very fitting since the Great Pretender movie follows Dorothy, who’s Laurent Thierry's ex-lover and partner, and they thought the title meant that there was some unfinished business between these two.
On top of that, “razbliuto” is said to be of Russian origin and some people say that it’s a word that was borrowed from this language, and Russian fans have something to say about that.
There’s no such word in Russian
The thing is that “razbliuto” doesn’t exist in the Russian language, and Russian fans got super confused when they found out that the entire world seems to think that this word comes from their language.
There is a word, though, that reminds fans of “razbliuto,” and this is the verb “разлюбить” (razlubit’), which can be translated as “to fall out of love with somebody.” It does sound a little bit similar, we have to admit.
There’s an idea that “razbliuto” is indeed this Russian word, but it was written incorrectly due to the difference between the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. Or perhaps there was a misunderstanding and the person who decided to borrow the word just didn’t hear it right.
But the thing is this word doesn’t have the “sentimental feeling” part of “razbliuto,” Russian people use it just to show that the love is gone, and there are no more feelings. Which can once again prove that there was some confusion during the borrowing process.
There’s another idea that the word “razbliuto” is a weird combination of Russian and English words. What if “razlubit’” was indeed the foundation for it, and then an English part was added?
“Razbliuto” sounds like a mixture of “razlubit’” and “blue.” And the first one means to no longer love somebody, while “feeling blue” is a synonym for “being sad.” When we combine these two concepts, we get the sad feeling about lost love.
While this theory is indeed interesting, we have no proof that it’s exactly what happened, so “razbliuto” will forever remain a wonderful mystery.
Great Pretender Razbliuto, however, is not a mystery anymore. So you can get your tickets and finally watch it. And who knows, maybe you’ll be the one to solve the title puzzle.