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?

Thus we’ve come to the conclusion that the fascinating phrase «ничегосебе», 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… ДажевИспании!» [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!]

– «Тычто, 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…