Around the World in 8 Phrases Posted by yelena on Jun 26, 2012 in Culture, language
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGbQ1xKII1Y
Have you seen the movie this short clip of these two Russian (ok, Soviet) tourists walking through the streets of some unnamed foreign city?
Summer is, traditionally, the season for travelling. Куда вы едете этим летом? (Where are you going this summer?) It’s always been my dream to go around the world even if in just 80 days. The closest I’ve gotten to my dream was a day I spent at Epcot. In the mean time, I’m taking you on a virtual tour courtesy of some strange and funny Russian idioms. Let’s get started!
1. В Греции всё есть (In Greece they have everything) – a phrase from an old Soviet movie became a widely used idiom. It’s meaning – availability, sometimes excessive, of something or other. Frequently this something is otherwise in short supply. Other times it’s something very common and the entire phrase is infused with even more sarcasm.
– У тебя есть дырокол? (Have you got a hole-punch?)
– Конечно! У меня, как в Греции, всё есть! (Of course! I’ve got everything just like they have in Greece!)
2. Бермуды – in addition to tropical paradise, this word also refers to a certain style of женские шорты (women’s shorts) that, according to claims in catalogs, is best подчёркивает достоинства (figure-flattering) and looks модный (stylish).
3. Как в лучших домах Филадельфии (As in the best homes of Philadelphia) also known as как в лучших домах Европы и Филадельфии and в лучших домах Лондона и Парижа (as in the best homes of London and Paris) – this is a phrase from a much-beloved classic Двенадцать стульев (Twelve Chairs). Don’t worry, the strange stress in the word “London” is not a typo. That’s how it’s supposed to be pronounced, but only in this phrase. Regardless of the version you choose, the meaning is the same – “properly” as in
– Ты не забыл поставить на стол новые хрустальные фужеры? (You remembered to set out new crystal wine glasses, did you?)
– Дорогая, не волнуйся, всё как в лучших домах Лондона и Парижа. (Darling, don’t worry, everything is done properly)
4. Лучшие ножки во Франции, если побрить и выпрямить (lit: the best legs in France once you shave and straighten them out) – this is a very long way of describing an unattractive woman.
5. Галопом по Европам (lit: Galloping across Europes) – the meaning of this phrase, which by the way is used as an adverb, is to do something quickly or cover a range of topics in a short time, without going into details.
В своих предвыборных речах, кандидат затронул самые разные вопросы, но поверхностно, не заостряясь на деталях, одним словом галопом по Европам. (In his stump speeches, the candidate touched on diverse subjects, but in a perfunctory way, without going into details.)
6. Пролететь, как фанера над Парижем (lit: to fly like plywood over Paris) – weirdly, it means “to miss one’s chance”, “to lose out”.
Я хотела купить Групон в салон красоты, но долго раздумывала и пролетела, как фанера над Парижем (I wanted to buy a Groupon deal for a beauty salon, but spent too much time thinking about it and missed my chance).\
7. В Багдаде всё спокойно (lit: all is quiet in Baghdad) – this is a phrase repeated by the night watchman from the Russian version of the Ali Baba story. It’s a joking way of saying that everything is well and fine, there’s nothing to worry about.
8. Открывать Америку (lit: to discover America) – when someone is telling you something very obvious, something well-known, you can respond with тоже мне, Америку открыл! (as if I don’t already know this!)
Since most of our planet is covered with water, I’m going to add these two phrases
Гнать волну (to make waves) – it means “to make trouble”, “to make a scene” as in “Не гони волну, я тебе деньги отдам в понедельник” (Don’t make a scene, I’ll pay you back on Monday”.
Греби отсюда! (lit: row away from here!) – it’s a rude way of telling someone to go away, to shove off. If you use it needlessly, you might be accused of гнать волну.
What other geographical idioms do you know? If you don’t know or can’t think of any Russian idioms, share the ones in English and I’ll try to find an equivalent phrase in Russian.
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Comments:
Rob:
тоже мне, Америку открыл
Would the understood subject of открыл be Колумб? (As in, “Next you’ll be telling me that Columbus discovered America!”) I’m just wondering why it’s masculine rather than the “pseudo-passive” plural (Америку открыли, in the sense “America has been discovered,” not referring to a specific “they”).
I’m wearing “Bermuda” shorts as I type this! In English they’re not considered a specifically feminine fashion — rather they can be for men or women, depending on the cut and color. But either way it refers to shorts with wide legs, usually knee-length, and often made from шотландка (“plaid fabric”), especially Madras-type plaids (as opposed to Scottish tartan designs).
yelena:
@Rob Rob, you can use masculine or feminine here. So you can say тоже мне, Америку открыла as a response to something said by a female speaker. And you can use plural too: тоже мне, Америку открыли! or any of its variations, such as Вы мне Америку не открыли (You haven’t discovered America for me). This plural form would be used not only in response to “them”, but also to just one person whom the speaker addresses with a formal Вы.
Jeannie:
Hmmm, your question is surprisingly tough, Yelena. But I’m glad for the blog! I love collecting such Russian sayings.
The only two geographical idioms I could think of are:
“It’s a long way to Tipperary.”
and
“There’s something rotten in Denmark.”
P.S. My Russian friends’ favorite American idiom by far is, “It’s a lemon!” (i.e., referring to a new car that turns out to be junk.) They all say it now. :))
yelena:
@Jeannie Jeannie, I am not sure what “It’s a long way to Tipperary” means. I googled it and it seems to be used to say that something is far away. there are quite a few expressions in Russian that mean “it’s far away”, including за тридевять земель, у чёрта на куличках, у чёрта на рогах. To add to Rob’s comment about лимон, there was once a pretty popular song called Страна Лимония and this mythical Lemon Land was meant as an extremely prosperous place.
Throbert McGee:
Jeannie: There’s a bit of irony that they’d like the phrase “the car is a lemon” because лимон (followed by a unit of currency) means “a million” in slang — лимон баксов = “a million bucks”. (I assume this is mainly from phonetic reversal of the л and м sounds, though I seem to remember reading somewhere that historically — during a period of hyperinflation — there actually was a million-ruble banknote issued that was yellow in color. I could be mistaken about this part, though.)
“There’s something rotten in Denmark”
[Hmmm, now I’m Googling for “Гамлет” at lib.ru]
Bah, it sounds better “in the original Klingon”:
Подгнило что-то в Датском государстве.
(Гамлет, Акт I, Сцена 4)
Note that подгнило (lit., “it has rotted”) is related to гной, “pus” — so it perhaps suggests a more disgusting/stinky condition of rottenness than испортить.
Stas:
There is another good and interesting synonim to гнать волну – вешать лапшу на уши (lit. to hang macaroni on somebody’s ears); as in не вешай мне лапшу на уши – don’t lie to me…
yelena:
@Stas Stas, I’m so glad you commented! I love the phrase you’ve suggested. I actually included it in the Body Language post. I’m trying to remember all the Russian phrases with the meaning of “don’t lie to me” and also for “speaking the truth”. Any suggestions?