цирк уехал, клоуны остались
phrase
Listen:
Transcription (the accent is shown in capital letters):
[tseerk u-YE-hal, KLO-u-ny as-TA-lees']
Translation / meaning:
The circus has left, the clowns have stayed.
Describes a situation when the people around behave inadequately, weird, silly or just fool around.
More explanations and examples here: A few funny Russian expressions
More from "Funny Russian expressions"
-
(lit.: do not turn me over) do not disturb me, don't bother me
-
хорошее дело браком не назовут
no good thing can be called "defect"
-
What I don't eat, I bite. Comes from an Ukranian anecdote.
-
equivalent of "the same dish, just under a different souce"
-
office plankton (small office employees)
-
amazing, interesting
-
хочешь как лучше, а получается как всегда
you want it as best but it ends up as always
-
чем бы дитя не тешилось, лишь бы траву не курило
whatever the child is doing, the most important that he/she does not smoke grass
Other categories
Subscribe to our Russian podcast or Russian jokes and boost your Russian to a completely new level!