(no subject)

[-ufo-.livejournal.com]

Well, I thought maybe this would help someone and gathered few phrases and words that you would hardly ever find in your dictionaries...

Words and phrases you may use somehow
ясно как дважды два - (разговорное) absolutely clear
как два пальца об асфальт - (разговорное) dead easy
вилами по воде писано - (раговорное) means uncertainty
Сусанин - (разговорное) means person that lead you wrong way
С легким паром - it's a tradition to say this to person who've just visited bath/sauna
а Васька слушает да ест - (разговорное) means person do know your opinion, but still don't take it into account
затянуть пояса - (разг.) to have a tough time
плач Ярославны - (разг) useless worries about smth
семь раз отмерь, один - отрежь - (разг) you should think twice before doing anything
мартышка и очки - (разг) means someone have access to smth, but have no idea of what to do with it
медвежья услуга - (разг) means someone trying to help have done things worse
баян - (разг, интернет) word describing joke that everyone already know and consequently not funny at all
вам шашечки или ехать? - (разг) a question of what is more important to you - correct form or the concept itself
гайцы - (разг) policemen in whose duties is to enforce driving rules




Words and phrases you'd better not to use, but should know
стольник - (разг) - hundred rubles
пятихатка - (разг) - five hundred rubles
зеленые - (разг) dollars
деревянные - (разг) rubles
шеф - (разг) driver
штука - (разг) one thousand


Well, and may be that's interesting, but there's quite a lot of features in using words to agree and to disagree in real language. I mean, words да, конечно may mean - no, and word нет may mean yes :)!

Comments

[kalaus.livejournal.com]

A good English equivalent for this one is "It goes in one ear and out the other" or "It's like talking to a brick wall".
FWIW: Bernard Pares's translation of this line out of Krylov's "Kot i povar" is: "Tom harks, and lunches at his ease", although it's unlikely that it will function well in an English text.


I may be mistaken, but isn't this a loan translation of the English "to tighten the belt"?

[-ufo-.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. I forgot those equivalents :) That'st the payment for rare use of English :)

I don't know. That maybe, the thing is just I didn't meet that phrase in English

[stephan-nn.livejournal.com]

"It goes in one ear and out the other"

"В одно ухо влетает - в другое вылетает" - it Russia people say so.

And "а Васька слушает да ест" was written by Krylov.

[simple-oaf.livejournal.com]

"Плач Ярославны" is seldom used, imho...

[alon_68]

Why "better not to use"? I don't see big difference between the words/idioms in the 1st and 2nd categories. They both are quite colloquial and require not only the excellent knowledge of the Russian but also the sense of the language, but they bear nothing insulting or improper at all.

[temcat.livejournal.com]

The 1nd category is more literary. The 2nd one is pure slang, which always sounds rather weird from a non-native speaker.

[alon_68]

To me, it's correct for both ones.

[temcat.livejournal.com]

To a different extent. I for one would move "как два пальца об асфальт", "баян", "вам шашечки или ехать?", and "гайцы" to the second category. The remaining items IMHO do not sound inappropriate when used by a foreigner - on the contrary, I would see them as a sign of a good command of the language.

[alon_68]

Agree

[temcat.livejournal.com]

гайцы - (разг) policemen in whose duties is to enforce driving rules

Huh? This is a rather obscure variant. Гаишники is how road policemen are usually referred to.

[-ufo-.livejournal.com]

well, i'd accept both variants, but it's good for foreigners to keep in mind both positions)

[svyatogor.livejournal.com]

гайцы - first I see it myself! We used to call them 'гаишники' or 'архангелы'.

[alamar.livejournal.com]

"как два пальца об асфальт" AKA "как два пальца обоссать" AKA "как два байта переслать" :)))

[viata.livejournal.com]

I like the bite-version, thanx!

[coldmacana.livejournal.com]

Would someone mind explaining to me the origins/reasons of a few of these terms? I understand their meaning, but I'm just curious about how they became associated with that meaning:
1. Сусанин (I assume this a reference to some sort of historical/literary character?)
2. плач Ярославны
3. Why архангелы for the гаишники?
Thanks!

[skogens-kjole.livejournal.com]

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Susanin
2. Плач Ярославны - a part of "Слово о полку Игореве"(an Old Russian poem of the 12th century - The Tale of the Host of Igor). I'm not sure whether her cry is useless, but I've met the fact that such phrase means some boring and dreary complaint. Almost everybody in Russia learns by heart a part from the poem at school, girls usually have to learn "Плач Ярославны". As for me it wasn't a piece of cake.
3. To tell the truth I've never heard about "архангелы" for "гаишники" =))

[viata.livejournal.com]

No idea about "архангелы" but there's a good joke about гаишники: you may call them "продавцы полосатых палочек"

[coldmacana.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the answers; I'm still curious about the архангелы, those legendary продавцы полосатых палочек (lol)! What is the продавец part referring to: simply продавец as a very loose synonym for "occupation" or the fact that you have to pay a little штраф for the pleasure of them waving the полосатые палочки at you?

[-ufo-.livejournal.com]

i've never met word архангелы referred to гаишники, but maybe it's connected with their direct function - to protect/enforce law.

[viata.livejournal.com]

I think, both.

[-ufo-.livejournal.com]

:) interesting question.
i guess both referrals are right to some extent

[temcat.livejournal.com]

Продавцы полосатых палочек is from a joke about a stoned dude who drove at twice the speed limit. At several points on the highway the road policemen signaled him to stop by waiving with their sticks, but he just rushed past them. Finally they forced him to stop by puncturing his tires. He went out of the car saying, "You're damn annoying, the sellers of stripy sticks!!"

[scriabingirl.livejournal.com]

Interesting - I'm Slovene and the only idiom that was familiar to me is медвежья услуга (medvedja usluga in Slovene).

[-ufo-.livejournal.com]

well,
firstly, i guess that "выпей яду" means not drink some poison, but "you said smth really stupid"
secondly, all these expression are quite rude and I wouldn't recommend using them

[viata.livejournal.com]

Anyway, these words are used only in the internet and they are a part of "падонкавский" style: just a kind of pretending to be a bad guy. I don't think they can sound somehow serious. To my mind it's either hyronical or stupid, depending on the context.

[odin2000.livejournal.com]

All these idiom used only so called "padonki" - a small group with their own stupid philosophy and humor.

[temcat.livejournal.com]

Can you please spare us all this padonki rubbish, thank you.

[j1c-o60pmot.livejournal.com]

"креатиф гавно афтар мудак" - it indicates that comment's not worth reading and the author sucks all the way.

[yms.livejournal.com]

как два пальца об асфальт is an awkward euphemism for как два пальца обоссать. I would not recommend to use it.

[-ufo-.livejournal.com]

well, Ithought of it, but to my mind this connection is nearly lost, so usually, when you hear the first phrase you don't keep in mind the second one