question!

[voltaireontoast.livejournal.com]

I have a question. Actually, I had two, but the last good luck post answered this for me.

'им до лампочки' - A phrase my Russian teacher told me to casually throw in our oral exam, which I did. And I was told it meant 'they couldn't care less' idiomatically.

Am I right in thinking that literally, this has something to do with lamps? Little lamps?

Where does that come from? I'm very intrigued. Thanks, guys.

Comments

[aldanur.livejournal.com]

You can try this (http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtopic.php?t=11565&view=previous). They say that “до лампочки” and “до фонаря” both come from coal miners who used to wear lanterns on their belts.

(though I personally never saw a miner with a lamp on a belt)

[voltaireontoast.livejournal.com]

Ah, that would make sense. Although I always thought miners had lamps on their hats. Either way, it's a little more sensible than the stuff I was imagining. XD

[giftchild.livejournal.com]

the lamps were originally too big/heavy to put on a hat, hence the belt. it's a matter of era/technological development.

[avysk]

Лампочка may mean a little lamp but more often, I'd say, it means 'a light bulb'.

[ex-roumor.livejournal.com]

there's another one -"им по барабану"

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

My granny used to say "до двёрцев". I don't know if that's a Belorussian way to say the same thing or something else, but I have no idea what it has to do with doors. I'd never asked her about the origin, 'cause she probably hadn't known it, yet it was funny enough to ask for more.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Sounds definitely Belorussian, and probably is Belorussian; at least, I have never heard it before :)

[yms.livejournal.com]

Here (http://www.jewniverse.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=869&st=0) I found another version, seems to be stronger. "До лампочки" came from Yiddish "zim Lomp" (zum Lamp). This expression has a literary source in Poland, first came to Odessa, and spread further from there.

[never-worrying.livejournal.com]

I've found a bit another variant " he doesn't care a damn". Personally I think that it fits. At least it becomes clear what you mean.