(no subject)

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

 Two questions about conversational (possibly slang) Russian phrases: 

1. People often say  "прям" (or is it "прямо"?) where it seems to mean *very* -- "Он прям стеснительный"  ... is this what it means--very? Can you give some more examples of it being used in this way?

2. The phrase "Ужас какой-то" -- what purpose does the "какой-то" serve? How is this different than just "Ужас!"?

THanks!

Comments

[arashi-opera.livejournal.com]

"Прям" is the colloquial form of "прямо". Serves for emotional amplification of the phrase, doesn't bear any significant meaning. I suppose it's close to the slang "like" in English. "Он прямо подпрыгнул на месте, когда услышал!" - He's, like, jumped up when he heard it!

The colloquial expression "какой-то" is also used to enhance the phrase emotionally and doesn't have a direct translation. "Странный он какой-то" - He looks weird.

[whitest-owl.livejournal.com]

1. Yes it is slang, mostly teen-slang. Excesssive use of 'прям' is the same as excessive use of 'like' in American. The closest translation of "Он прям стеснительный", would be "he is like shy".

2. I am using "Ужас какой-то" if I, myself describing some event. "Ужас!" if I am responding to someone's description of event.

[alamar.livejournal.com]

Прям - "really".

"какой-то" - means "it might not sound as ужас, but it really is".
same with бардак какой-то, дурдом какой-то.
Also, linked with the feeling of surprise.

[idioritmik.livejournal.com]

sometimes "прям(о)" means "такой" - "so"

[gauchette.livejournal.com]

"какой-то" stands for "kind of" - "this is kind of horrible".

"прямо" and "просто" can be used to force the statement: "Это просто кошмар" "Я прямо чуть не умер там" (thou both are kind of language garbage in those cases) and are equal to "so" or "just" depending on context.

[usdcad.livejournal.com]

1. just/downright/pointedly
2. sorta.

[al-r.livejournal.com]

ПРЯМ - I would say it's not at all similar to 'like', it's closer to 'really/just/so'...

[kunaifusu.livejournal.com]

Adding "какой-то" is a way to strengthen an expression. It's similar to English "I have no words!" or "Words cannot describe this!" etc. "Какой-то" here is a substitute for an epithet the speaker is unable to pronounce. In case with "ужас" it's usually because, really, there is rarely an adjective you could use with it but sometimes people use this or similar technique to imply either a word that would be too obscene under the circumstances or even too "evil" to exist.

[dimal0.livejournal.com]

Do you know the expression "больно умный"? If yes, you would be able to understand expressions like "прям ***" and so on. If not, you'll have to read more children's fairy tales :)

[racoonbear.livejournal.com]

"это ужас какой-то" is weaker than "ужас!!!"
"какой-то" turns it into something routine.

Your way of thinking seems to be logical, but you're not quite correct )

[andreyshell.livejournal.com]

- Бардак какой-то!
- Наваждение какое-то!
- Это какое-то безобразие!

"какой-то" means something you don't know exactly and wouldn't like to examine. It's emotional addition to make sentence longer (not to have it cuted short).
You add it to soften your words and express less negative emotions.
- Это безобразие! /Strong, unreserved attitude.
- Это какое-то безобразие! /Softer - "I'm angry, but I think latley I'll manage it"