descurca

Forms

descurca (third-person singular present descurcă, past participle descurcat, third-person subjunctive descurce) 1st conjugation^[1] A regional form is discurca: „o discurcăm ș-o îngropăm” “we untangle [the vine] and bury it”, in the linguistic atlas.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian des- + încurca, replacing the prefix of încurca (“to tangle”) with the reversing prefix des-.^[4][3][5][2]

Pușcariu once derived it from Vulgar Latin *deobscūricō (“to make light”), formed on obscūrus (“dark”), and took the simple verb from it;^[1] Ciorănescu notes that the DA abandoned this view.^[6] Wiktionary still mentions it as the less likely explanation.^[1] The origin of the simple verb itself is uncertain.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Coresi's Carte de învățătură of 1581, in a figurative use: „iubirea celor cugete … ca o mreajă să le descurcăm” “let us untangle like a net the love of those thoughts”.^[2][3] Tiktin's first date is 1703.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense is to untangle threads, hair, wool or the like.^[2][4] A Bertoldo translation of 1779 has the proverb „cine a încurcat pânza, trebuie să o și descurce” “whoever tangled the cloth must untangle it”, said of one who must undo the harm he did, and „descurcă-mi acest tâlc” “explain this parable to me”, the sense “clear up, explain”.^[5][3]

It was also used of finding or clearing one's way: descurcă-mi drumul! “get out of my way!”.^[3] The reflexive a se descurca “to get out of a difficult situation, to manage, to cope” is in Șăineanu's dictionary, descurcă-te cum vei putea “manage as best you can”, and is now its most frequent use.^[7][4][8] From it came descurcăreț “resourceful”.^[1]

Timeline

• 1581 – descurcăm “let us untangle” in Coresi's Carte de învățătură.^[2][3]
• 1703 – Tiktin's first dated record.^[5]
• 1779 – the proverb of the tangled cloth and the sense “explain” in a translation of Bertoldo.^[5]
• 1862 – in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[2]
• 1929 – the reflexive a se descurca “to manage” in Șăineanu's dictionary.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To untangle threads, hair or the like; to descâlci.^[4][3]
2. (reflexive and transitive) To get oneself or someone out of a difficult, tangled or unfamiliar situation; to manage, to cope: Se descurcă singur la școală.^[4][3]
3. (transitive) To clarify or sort out a confused problem or situation.^[4][3]

Word family

• descurcăreț

Related words

• încurca
• descâlci

Usage notes

Cine a încurcat pânza, trebuie să o descurce “whoever tangled the cloth must untangle it” means that the one who caused a problem must put it right.^[3][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. descurcá
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 660
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 297
5. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. descurcá
6. ^ a b Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. încurca
7. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 202
8. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 68