Д-394

С ДУШКОМ coll PrepP Invar subj-compl with copula or nonagreeing modif )

1. ( subj: a noun denoting food) not fresh, decaying

X с душком - X is going bad

X is spoiling X smells bad (like itfc going bad).

Выброси эту рыбу, она с душком. Throw out this fish-it's going bad.

2. с (каким) душком disapprov (subj: human, collect, or abstr

while in Russian the modif ier may be only implied, the English equivalent in most cases will specify it) (used to show that the speaker thinks the views of some person or group, the direction taken by a newspaper, some theory etc has a tendency to be ethically, politically etc wrong in the Soviet context was also used to show that some phenomenon contradicted official ideology) sth. is undesirable, harmful, marked by some unacceptable (as implied or specified by the context) tendency

X с (нехорошим) душком - X has a nasty smell to it

X с либеральным (консервативным, антисемитским ит.п.) душком = X is tainted by liberalism (conservatism, anti-Semitism etc)

X с сомнительным душком - X has a dubious (doubtful) air (about it (him etc)).

...Преуменьшать значения молитвы... нельзя. Далеко зашел старик. С душком, с нехорошим душком молитва (Абрамов 1). .. .The importance of the prayer could not be underestimated. The old man had gone too far. It had a nasty smell to it, that prayer (1a).

...Он (отставной активист) высказался в том духе, что... квартира в жилтоваришестве советских фотографов превратилась в пристанище для сборищ с определённой подкладкой, с сомнительным душком (Аксенов 12). ...The retired activist expressed himself to the effect that...an apartment in a housing community for Soviet photographers has been "turned into a haven for gatherings of a certain element, with a dubious air" (12a).