Excuses, excuses...

[yozhevich.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if there was a possible equivalent in Russian for this...

So, imagine a guy asks a girl out on a date. The girl is not interested, but the guy is persistent, so she has to come up with an excuse. In English, the excuse is almost always "I have to wash my hair." I doubt this happens in real life (poor guy), but it's kind of a joke, or a stereotypical situation...

Is there an equivalent phrase in Russian? Just wondering :) Thanks!

Comments

[rqrmarine.livejournal.com]

as I've understood, it's a kind of "I build a nestling box" :) (строю скворечник), quite a popular expression
there's a joke (maybe my translation is poor, but I'll try)
- Hey, what are you doing tonight?
- A nestling box.
- And I was about to invite you somewhere...
- So go on, invite.
- Hey, could we go somewhere tonight?
- I can't.
- Why?
- I have my nestling box unfinished...

[yozhevich.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, that excuse is even worse than washing your hair... :)

Thank you so much! Could you possibly post the original joke in Russian?

[rqrmarine.livejournal.com]

hehe, here's variant of the joke from the internet (I guess, it's a bit more funny as mine :) )
- Девушка, что вы делаете сегодня вечером?
- Скворечник.
- Какой скворечник?
- Как какой? Деревянный.
- Жаль, а я хотел пригласить вас в кино.
- Так пригласите.
- Девушка, а давайте сегодня вечером в кино сходим.
- Не могу.
- А почему?
- У меня скворечник недоделанный.

[yozhevich.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's pretty good :)

[spokojnik.livejournal.com]

yeah yeah yeah... been there)
one of the finest of such excuses, more like a joke now, is "Мне нужно домой, у меня молоко на плите стоит" which can be literally translated to "I gotta go home, I have milk boiling on the stove". also goes with "I gotta go home, I forgot to turn off the iron"

[arvi.livejournal.com]

Russia is a VERY BIG country. On Russian streets it's safe, for a girl, not to pay any attention to any unwanted man.

So the correct Russian equivalent is silence.

If the situation is safe, like during a phone talk, the girl can say "щаз, только шнурки поглажу" (First I have to iron shoe-laces.). This joke is recognized, but a little insulting.

[philena.livejournal.com]

Same in the US (or England, I imagine.) This situation would be a conversation with an acquaintance you already know--a co-worker or a classmate, for example--but whom you simply don't want to date.

[arvi.livejournal.com]

Just neutral "на этой неделе я занята" (I am busy this week) is Okay. Why joke with someone, you don't want to meet with?

[yozhevich.livejournal.com]

Like I said, I don't think anyone ACTUALLY says "I have to wash my hair", it's just a typical line on TV, for example. Perhaps it was funny at one time... :)

[arvi.livejournal.com]

Thats why I think, its something artificial and non-portable. Local to some national TV.

The girl here can tell something about her parents, husband or (imaginable) boyfriend, their children. Joke about dates with other strong guys or strict lesbian girlfriends.

Most cool is to tell "Сегодня я занята, проверяюсь на ВИЧ" (Tonight I'm busy, checking for AIDS) ;-)

[alamar.livejournal.com]

In that case скворечник is your friend :)

[spiderhood.livejournal.com]

There're lots of variations on "my parrot is sick" ("попугайчик заболел") theme ("I have to nurture it", "I have to take him to the vet", etc).

[kentavrika.livejournal.com]

у меня кошка болеет, не могу

[-kisliy-.livejournal.com]

You may say easier: "У меня на сегодня другие планы, извини...". I haven't ever heared phrases about washing hair or a sick parrot...