Ничего Себе! [Not Bad! Pretty Good! Pretty Well!]
Posted on 19. Dec, 2008 by josefina in language
Wrapped up in a thrilling conversation in Russian (this also goes for in Russia) and feeling rather impressed with what someone else has just said, but at a loss for concrete words to express such notions, one does not always know what to say. Of course, you could always make the classical comment of «хорошо!» [good!], but isn’t that a little too boring, a little too ‘hey, I’ve just finished studying a year of Russian for beginners and I know how to say that and «с 1989 года я больше не являюсь членом партии по очевидным обстоятельствам»‘ [since 1989 I am no longer a member of the party because of obvious circumstances]? Why not try to spice up the chat with «отлично!» [excellent!] or «как интересно!» [how interesting!]. You could also go a little bit colloquial and say something like «здорово!» [wonderful!] (but make sure you don’t put the stress on the second o, and end up saying «здорово!», which is an informal way of saying hello. Especially in Siberia, said Dostoevsky back in 1855), or «классно!» [‘awesome!'] (you could also just shorten it to «класс!» [‘awesomeness']), and from there the road isn’t far to the well-known «супер!» [super!]. But we’re here to learn something new, now aren’t we? How about splashing and dashing the useful phrase of «ничего себе» around oneself in Russian discussions?
«Ничего себе, какой классный бывает закат солнца в Сибири временами!» [Not bad (at all) how awesome the sunset in Siberia is from time to time!] Though this sentence is a typical example of сугубо разговорный стиль [predominantly spoken language], I would still advice you to try and say something like it once in a while.
Thus we’ve come to the conclusion that the fascinating phrase «ничего себе», which should be translated as ‘nothing to oneself’ in English actually means ‘not bad; pretty good; pretty well’, and is a useful comment to make when something someone says impresses you. But in what kind of situations would that be really appropriate? Let’s learn from a couple of examples:
- «Вчера на улице я нашёл 5000 (пять тысяч) рублей, и наконец-то узнал, какой город на той бумажке – Хабаровск!» [Yesterday I found 5000 rubles on the street, and finally I found out what town is on that bill - Khabarovsk!]
- «Ничего себе!» [Not bad!]
- «Знаешь, я с мисс Мира этого года, которая русская и из Сибири, встречался в своё время, пока учился в институте.» [You know, I dated Miss World, who's Russian and from Siberia, back in the days, when I studied at the institute (i.e. went to college).]
- «Ничего себе!» [Not bad!]
- «В магазине сегодня яблоки по 35 (тридцать пять) рублей стоят! Спеши!» [Today apples cost 35 rubles in the store! Hurry!]
- «Ничего себе!» [Not bad!]
- «На следующей неделе будет 28 (двадцать восемь) градусов ниже нуля.» [Next week it's going to be 28 degrees (Celsius) below zero.]
- «Ничего себе!» [Not bad!]
- «В этом году снег был уже повсюду перед тем, как он выпал в России… Даже в Испании!» [This year snow was already everywhere before it started to snow in Russia... Even in Spain!]
- «Ничего себе!» [Not bad!]
- «Я сдал экзамен на пять!» [I got a five (A; the highest grade) on my exam!]
- «Ничего себе!» [Not bad!]
- «Ты что, удивляешься?» [What, are you surprised?]
- «Нет, ничего.» [No, nothing.]
Next time I think it’s high time to take a closer look at «нечего», which seems to be not too far away from «ничего», but that’s where one makes a huge mistake…
Great post
Would you allow me to correct you a bit, Josefina?
First, the caption under the picture «Ничего себе как классный бывает закат солнца в Сибири временами!»
It should be «Ничего себе какой классный бывает закат солнца в Сибири временами!». And you can easily skip солнца; in this context it is redundant a little. Also you should’ve put the comma after Ничего себе.
Then, «В магазине сегодня яблоки по 35 (тридцать пять) рублей стоят!» It has to be стоят. Otherwise you just saying that Apples in the store are standing.
And finally, just to make it 3 strokes; however, it not a mistake, «На следующей неделе будет 28 (двадцать восемь) градусов ниже нуля.» You can say 0 as ноль and нуль. I got used the the former but, hey, it’s just me.
It was something else that caught my eye with your use of the commas.
hi
Stas, what would I do without you? Thank you so much for your corrections – as you will notice, I corrected everything but the нуль. I like the ‘у’ sound better than the Russian ‘o’ sound. I don’t know why… That’s just the way it is I guess
But now I know that one day I can switch to saying “ниже ноля” and that would also be alright!
Thank you again!
Hi Josephina,
May I correct you on the translation of “Ничего себе” into English? For the situations which you describe, “Wow” would be a more fitting translation. “Ничего себе” has a a stong element of amazement and “Not bad!” does not convey that you are impressed in English. It’s more of an approval statement. Besides, it has a direct Russian equivalent: “неплохо!”
Why do you need ‘себе’? My (limited) understanding is that ‘Ничего’ alone means “Not Bad/Pretty Good”.. is this correct?
Thanks. I am using it.
Cool blog! I’m fluent in Russian, but can always use the colloquialisms. I got here by searching for “ничего себе.”