[identity profile] laust-lola.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] learn_russian
My russian is rusty! But I have a question.

Well I was eating dinner with some classmates, a russian girl, well actually ukranian but she speaks russian, and her adoptive parents. Her father mentioned that when he says "Да" she says "обла да" to him. He has no clue as to what it means and she can't translate the meaning into english. He even mentioned that at a slumber party with her friends when she said that, the other girls (they're all adopted too) would giggle. What does it mean??

Date: 2008-06-18 03:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] drivebyluna.livejournal.com
I know this doesn't help but all I can think of is the beatles song.

Date: 2008-06-18 03:42 am (UTC)

Date: 2008-06-18 03:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] heilkitty-ru.livejournal.com
плюсадин

Date: 2008-06-18 05:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kameil.livejournal.com
I was thinking the same thing...

Date: 2008-06-18 03:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] giulia-s.livejournal.com
Though I'm Russian, I have no idea what it means, and I never heard this "обла да". Probably, it's her private slang expression or something.

Date: 2008-06-18 03:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zveriozha.livejournal.com
It can mean "о, бля.. да"

Date: 2008-06-18 04:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] heilkitty-ru.livejournal.com
Unlikely. Phrases "о, да, бля" or "да, бля" are a lot more natural.
She may pass it off as the phrase from The Beatles' song, though.
Or, may be, other girls giggle, because they don't know the song and it's really like "о, да, бля" to them.

Date: 2008-06-18 04:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] heilkitty-ru.livejournal.com
The last sentence - s/"о, да, бля"/"о, бля.. да"/

Date: 2008-06-18 03:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alek-morse.livejournal.com
I think it's merely a play of words... an interesting phyme, possibly, with a some hidden meaning like the phrase "да - обладать". Then you can solve what is the hint ;)))

Date: 2008-06-18 03:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mpgriboff.livejournal.com
actually it doesn't mean anything
it's just a rhyme to да tha also sounds like a "word" from the beatles song - obladi-oblada
russians often use non-meaning rhymes to their opponent questions or answers to humiliate or devaluate opponents' reply or to cover their lack of answer: such as гДЕ? - в караганДЕ (which actually doesn't mean a real city), дА - у зайца рогА (nonsence), почемУ - покачанУ (nonsence), and lots of censored ones :)

Date: 2008-06-18 04:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flameaside.livejournal.com
почемУ - по кочанУ: it´s no nonsence. And why Караганда doesnt´s mean the city?

Date: 2008-06-18 04:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mpgriboff.livejournal.com
по кочанУ doesn't answer the question - hence nonsence
Караганда doesn't mean an actual city when being used as an answer to question где? as in above examples

Date: 2008-06-18 05:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] icamel.livejournal.com
it answers the question 'по чему?'
and yes, most probably Караганда is an euphemism.

Date: 2008-06-18 05:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mpgriboff.livejournal.com
'по чему?' and 'почему?' are different questions, althou they sound almost the same

Date: 2008-06-18 05:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] icamel.livejournal.com
Exactly.

Date: 2008-06-18 05:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] heilkitty-ru.livejournal.com
99,9% euphemism

Date: 2008-06-18 07:13 am (UTC)

Date: 2008-06-18 07:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] earth-blue.livejournal.com
oh, +100 %))

Date: 2008-06-18 04:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] khathi.livejournal.com
Well, might be just a nonsensical retort, which sometimes is used in colloquial Russian, something a bit akin to Cockney rhyming slang. This example looks like a quote from Beatles.

Date: 2008-06-18 05:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scolar.livejournal.com
I also think that it refers to "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" by "The Beatles". Another colloquial example is "облади, обладай": by adding "й" meaningless "oblada" turns to "обладай", the imperative of "обладать".

But both are not widely used at all.

Date: 2008-06-18 06:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fregat118.livejournal.com
As russian, I would think she says 'балда' (balda), which means something like 'stupid', but it would be too tough. From other side, that's the reason why the other girl giggled ;-)

Date: 2008-06-18 07:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] racoonbear.livejournal.com
I think it's just childish word which means nothing.
It was typical in my childhood to listen something like that.
Another sample of it mentioned above:
"Куда? - Караганда!" or just "Да? - Караганда!"
No sense at all. Just "socializing" behavior.

Date: 2008-06-18 12:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] icedink.livejournal.com
Girls at slumber parties giggle at everything. :)

Interesting question, though. I was also intrigued.

Date: 2008-06-18 03:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 53miles.livejournal.com
never heard anyone use "oblada" in response to "da". "Balda" however is fairly common. Also, I'm not quite sure she'll know the Beatles song...
to me personally, it sounds pretty rude.
(deleted comment)

Date: 2008-06-18 10:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 53miles.livejournal.com
idiot, retard - that kind of thing.

Date: 2008-06-19 05:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] akvlv.livejournal.com
it`s justa game with rhymes - really means nothing at all
Russian language is full of such examples:

где? - в Караганде! (mentioned here some days earlier)
кто? - дед Пихто!
кто? - конь в пальто

and so on...

Though some of them sounds funny, basically they are rough and illustrates that the person You talking too is rather nervous (or, as variant, rather playful). So be very careful, using them by yourself in talking with strangers :)
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