Funny Russian expressions discussed in the different episodes of Very Much Russian podcast.
изюмительный adjective
something amazing, interesting;
comes from изумительный (amazing) and изюм (raisin)
что такое не везет и как с ним бороться phrase
what is “not lucky” and how to fight it
никогда такого не было, и вот опять phrase
It never happened before, and here again.
сопли в сахаре phrase
snot in sugar (about something extremely tearful and sugary, like movies or stories)
те же яйца, только в профиль phrase
the same balls, only in profile (equivalent of “the same dish, just under a different souce”)
цирк уехал, клоуны остались phrase
The circus has left, the clowns have stayed.
Describes a situation when the people around behave inadequately, weird, silly or just fool around.
добровольно-принудительный phrase
Voluntary-compulsory.
Comes from the time of the USSR and is applied to actions committed by the individual as if in the name of the Great Idea, but in fact under fear of punishment.
хорошая мысля приходит опосля phrase
a good thought comes after (i.e. a good idea always comes post factum)
что ни съем, то понадкусываю phrase
What I don’t eat, I bite.
Comes from an Ukranian anecdote.
чем бы дитя не тешилось, лишь бы траву не курило phrase
Whatever the child is doing, the most important that he does not smoke grass.
A modern adaptation of the Russian proverb “чем бы дитя не тешилось, лишь бы не плакало“.
хочешь как лучше, а получается как всегда phrase
you want it as best but it ends up as always
вот где собака порылась! phrase
distorted variant of ‘вот где собака порылась’, means the same
офисный планктон phrase
office plankton (small office employees)
только шнурки поглажу phrase
a way to refuse to do something (just wait me while I’m ironing my laces)
сиди, я сам открою phrase
a description of a dumb person, comes from an anecdote
(lit: it was a long time ago and it’s not true) about something that chanded since then
как всё запущено… phrase
(lit. – how much neglected is everything) what a sad state of affairs! what a disaster! [used to express the fact that the things could be better if one took care about them]
меня не кантовать phrase
(lit. – do not turn me over) do not disturb me, don’t bother me
уши вянут / уши в трубочку сворачиваются phrase
it makes one’s sick to hear
у тебя пятница из-под субботы торчит phrase
your Friday is sticking out from under your Saturday (means your lower layers of cloth are visible from under the top layers)
Very Much Russian is much more than a simple Russian podcast, Russian Joke of the Week, and a modern Russian dictionary, it's a part of network that unites five free Russian learning websites.
In order to support the continuous development and pay for the servers, we've put together the podcast packages with PDF transcriptions.
If you appreciate our work, please support us. Any amount is appreciated. Thank you.