a fun idea

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

Anybody know some Russian puns? (With explanations, if possible)

Comments

[yers.livejournal.com]

first warning, you get obscene again you are banned

[yers.livejournal.com]

see above

[aka-smirnov.livejournal.com]

you're such a jerk

[aka-smirnov.livejournal.com]

I meant you're such a cant.
http://register.spectator.ru/22.10.2003/7

[yers.livejournal.com]

Oh, do protest, do insult me, but for heaven's sake don't play the fool. You know very well that filtering offensive, pointless, and terribly unentertaining smut that some people post in forums thinking it's so very funny, has nothing to do with puritannism, or, if like, with ебанутость. It's just trying to keep the rowdies out. And there are rowdies and rowdies, even for a jerk and a cant like me. You can be as foul-mouthed as you like and teach everyone bad language, but don't, don't get physiological. A swear word used abstractly is one thing. A description of excrement, or of micturating camels, is another, pun or no pun. I hope you'll try to understand this and not just wallow in your offendedness.

[aka-smirnov.livejournal.com]

"With ебанутость" - yeah, what's I do understand. :)

[yers.livejournal.com]

Kicked, banned, lamented.

[smrnv.livejournal.com]

Oh my God! I will be crying all night long...

[yers.livejournal.com]

How many have you got? It's wise to save one for a sudden blow sometime later.

check your spelling

[iorish.livejournal.com]

Cunt would be more correct.

Oh yeah btw. Banning кал and using ебанутость in the same thread is truly stupid. A young aesthete, DUH.

Re: check your spelling

[yers.livejournal.com]

Er... MGIMO finish?

Dictionary of Thieving Slang, 1737. person. A CANT. A CANT, an Hypocrite, a Dissembler, a double-tongu'd, whining Person.
http://dirk.holoweb.net/~liam/dict2/C/CANT.html

Whatever you do, remember there is no misprint in "The Reign of Cnut". :)

As for the e-word, I'm sorry, but I used it deliberately to confuse jackasses. (Which English word, by the way, has nothing to do with the posterior, contrary to what you're probably thinking, Mr. Would-Be More Correct.) And to send a message to people with brains. I repeat, swear words used abstractly are okay, graphic language is not okay. Okay?

you're so authentic

[iorish.livejournal.com]

So, you'd rather prefer to be a hypocrite than... Well, you got the idea. Poor choice I must say.

>> swear words used abstractly are okay, graphic language is not okay. Okay?

Not okay. In case you missed the point, that was a Russian pun. Just a piece of Russian... well, authenticity;). The pun is even funny (tastes differ, though). It didn't refer to anyone personally, and it wasn't meant to represent anything graphically. Tame your imagination please.

No point to have removed it whatsoever, Mr. CuntCant.

Re: you're so authentic

[yers.livejournal.com]

It's not up to you to judge. Luckily, I must say.

the importance of being earnest

[iorish.livejournal.com]

...which, of course, translates не твоё собачье дело. Well that's what you should've said right from the start. Kinda reveals your ultimate arguments in this debate.

Sorry for breaking into your little sandbox.

[yers.livejournal.com]

Not really. I have enough English to say 'it's none of your doggone business' if I wanted to.

You know what you are, trying to convince me that it's been Oh So Vicious of me to censor a silly smutty pun? Trying to look like you don't get what's so wrong with doing indecent things in a decent sandbox?
A cant. :)

Goodbye.

Re: you're so authentic

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

One more thing to consider ...

Maybe the pun was funny -- I don't know; I didn't see it. But all graphic language in this community should be kept out of places where it can be accidentally stumbled upon.

In other words, if you write an entry about graphic language, hide all graphic language behind an LJ-cut, and clearly warn people that that's what they'll encounter when they click on it, that's okay.

It's not okay to respond to someone's entry with graphic language when they haven't requested it, and it's not okay to place graphic language on the front page.

This is a courtesy towards those who don't want to be exposed to graphic language or are accessing this community from a public place.

не смешите мои тапки

[iorish.livejournal.com]

Lady,

Do me a favour, quit your "no graphic language here" refrain. You haven't even seen the original post, to start with.

As for the кал thing... What's going on about you people? Scatophobia, eh? Should I quote Rabelais, maybe? Are you going to ban him also?

Let me repeat it - for the last time, I hope:

1. You can't pretend кал is a swear-word. Period.

2. If the expression offended your fellow sandbox owner's fine feelings, it is his problem. Maybe he is SOOOO sensitive and refined (http://www.lyricsfind.com/lyrics/2986/29796.php), I don't mind, but I am not. Even if someone goes way too graphic, it is still ok with me especially in this community because it is supposed to be devoted to language. (Should I explain the connection?) Otherwise the community should've been called "a young aesthete's sanctuary".

Creating a community is a responsibility more than fun. Those having intolerance syndromes (http://www.hypnotictapes.com/transcript/fears-phobias/TS-FECAL.shtml) shouldn't probably go for it at all.

Re: не смешите мои тапки

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

Please do me the courtesy of not making incorrect assumptions about my character.

I know that part of moderating a community well is taking into account the sensibilities of all of its members, not only my own. The policy that all vulgar language should be avoidable is a very reasonable one, especially considering the strength of vulgar language in Russian.

We haven't banned vulgar language outright.

I can't speak about how offensive a word is or isn't, because I'm not a native speaker, so I'll trust yers's judgement. This is also his community.

If you would like to continue debating this, please email me privately.

[nale.livejournal.com]

Now back to puns. :))) (I'm italising stressed vowels).

A pun in Russian is called каламбур (http://encycl.yandex.ru/cgi-bin/art.pl?art=bse/00031/37900.htm&encpage=bse) (French in origin). Follow the link and you'll find a couple of classics, such as:

Я приехал в Москву: плачу и плачу. (P. Vyazemsky, 1824)
I.e.: I have come to Moscow: now I'm going to great expense and weep about it.

Here we have two words that look alike when written down, but sound differently because of the stress.

A rather more modern one:

Храните деньги в банке. В трехлитровой.

Here we have two different words (банк = bank and банка = jar), which look and sound exactely the same in this particular case. What it means is: "Keep your money not at a bank, but in a big jar at home". :o) The thing is that the first sentence imitates a promotional slogan urging people to keep their money at a bank rather then to hide it somewhere at home, while the second turns it upside down specifying that it was 'a jar' and not 'a bank' that the phrase was about. The whole, I gather, is supposed to reflect people's distrust in investing money as such at hard times like this. :o)

I can't tell you how stupid I feel explaining this one. :)))

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

I know it feels dumb to explain puns, but it makes it easier for people without all that much vocabulary/ease of use to get the joke.

[nale.livejournal.com]

Oh, but of course. :) No offence intended - I just didn't want to look too serious. :)))

[nale.livejournal.com]

More on Russian puns (http://www.krugosvet.ru/articles/76/1007622/1007622a1.htm), with examples.

A whole bunch of Soviet jokes about Stirlitz are based on puns. :) (Stirlitz is the main character in one of the best Russian movies ever - "Семнадцать мгновений весны" (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0069628/)). Most of them hardly make any sense, but they are funny. :o)

For example:
Штирлиц всю ночь топил печку. Под утро печка всё-таки утонула.
Stirlitz had been stoking the oven whole nignt. In the morning it has finally sunk.
Here we have homonyms: топить = to stoke and топить = to sink (something)

More jokes about Stirlitz (http://www.kulichki.com/traktir/pripryzhka/akalam.html). Some are rather ribald, so don't go there is you're not sure. :o)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

The link leads to a really rich collection, but the collector doesn't seem to be too literate :) lots of typos etc. My personal favorite is

Штирлиц подошел к окну. Из окна дуло. Штирлиц закрыл окно, дуло исчезло.
Again, two different forms that look alike - the homonyms:
дуло - it was blowing
and
дуло - the barrel of a gun --
Stirlitz approached the window. It was blowing from the window. Stirlitz closed the window, the barrel disappeared.

Oh boy, how silly this all should sound for those who did not grow up watching "17 Moments of Spring" series with the great Vyacheslav Tikhonov as Stirlitz :))) They probably think that those series were some kind of silly comedy... In fact, there was nothing really funny in those series - Russians are just fond of mocking some serious things (though they have their taboos as well)...

про Штирлица

[lapalissade.livejournal.com]

1. Штирлиц склонился над картой мира, его неудержимо рвало на родину.

2. Штирлиц бежал СКАЧКАМИ, Штирлиц прибавил скорость - КАЧКИ отстали.

и т.д.

[welgar.livejournal.com]

wolk_off, I think it's especially because of the film's extreme seriousness. Many people just can't stand it (so do I).

Another Stirlitz pun (Russian-English):
- Штирлиц, закройте окно. Дует, - сказал Мюллер.
- Do it yourself, bastard, - ответил Штирлиц.

The first phrase in English:
- Stirlitz, close the window. It's blowing, - said Mueller.

The humor is in the word "дует" (it's blowing, don't confuse it with "дуэт" - "duet"): it's pronounced nearly like English "do it".