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Are There Any Good Knock-Knock Jokes in Russian? Posted by yelena on Feb 6, 2013
Speaking of stereotypes, Russians usually view themselves as having a highly-developed чувство юмора (sense of humor). We cherish our анекдоты (jokes), however бородатые (old; lit: bearded) they might be. Indeed, Russians have an impressive catalog of joke categories, from армянское радио (Armenian radio) one-liners to elaborate шутки о том свете (afterlife jokes; lit: jokes about…
Gangnam Russian Style Posted by yelena on Jan 24, 2013
The only way you would not have heard PSY’s “Gangnam Style” is if you с Луны свалились (fell off the Moon). Otherwise, by now you’ve probably heard the song one time too many. But as a another well-known (Russian) song goes, “эх, раз, да ещё раз, да ещё много, много раз!” (once, and once more and…
5 Russian Stereotypes Other Than Winter, Vodka and Bears Posted by yelena on Jan 17, 2013
In the middle of the winter, a group of young foreigners travels across Russia searching for Russian women, Russian vodka and Russian bears. Nope, this is not a sequel to Особенности национальной охоты (Peculiarities of the National Hunt) movie. Instead, it is this year’s Cinetrain documentary project. The twenty four filmmakers participating in it are…
Happy New Year of the Black Snake! Posted by yelena on Jan 3, 2013
Image Source: Tobyotter via Flickr! Happy New Year! С Новым годом! Have you had a chance to try a real салат Оливье (Olivier salad) this year? To be honest, I wasn’t going to make it this year. I mean, after so many New Years in a row featuring this dish, this salad simply приелся (became boring). But…
Or the Puppy Gets It! Posted by yelena on Dec 28, 2012
If you are wondering about the title of this post, it refers to the “Or the Puppy Gets It” meme. What can be cuter or more helpless than a puppy, right? What kind of a heartless scoundrel would punish a puppy for anything at all, especially for something totally unrelated! Right? Right… Except yesterday Vladimir…
Femme Fatale, Fried Rooster, and Frightened Monkey Posted by yelena on Dec 20, 2012
Do you know this just might be the last post on the Russian blog? I’m saying it because tomorrow is December 21st, 2012, роковая дата (fatal date) some people and Hollywood studios believe to be конец света (the end of the world). Whether you believe in this предсказание (prediction) or think it’s just россказни (tall…
Days of Our Lives or Have You Bought the Tree Yet? Posted by yelena on Dec 14, 2012
This is the time of the year when Russian kids start asking their parents когда мы за ёлкой поедем? (when will we go get the New Year tree?) For busy parents the best day might just be завтра (tomorrow), not because it has particular significance, but because it is the weekend. Of course, if завтра…