Thanks to Rob’s most excellent anatomy posts from last week (Part 1 and Part 2), you are now familiar with the Russian names for body parts and internal organs. So let’s review the vocabulary and place it in a different context. Today we are going to travel through some popular sayings and idioms with body parts in them.

But first, aren’t you glad Rob joined the blog as a writer? I sure am since, as the saying goes, одна голова хорошо, а две – лучше (two heads are better than one). Of course, that only happens when at least one of the two heads is located on one’s shoulders (and not in any other place). Confused? Well, in Russian we might praise someone’s smarts or wisdom by saying у него/неё голова на плечах.

Глаза (eyes), as we know, are зеркало души (mirror of the soul). When we are very protective of something or someone, we say беречь, как зеницу ока (protect as an apple of one’s eye). Of course, as you know, sometimes things can change in the blink of an eye. That’s fast. But the Russian equivalent of “in the blink of an eye” is even faster. We frequently say глазом не успел моргнуть (lit: before I could even blink) to emphasize the swiftness with which something occurred.

By contrast, the sayings about нос (nose) are all rather comical and have to do with punches and getting noses stuck. Любопытной Варваре нос в дверях оторвали (Nosy Varvara’s nose got pinched in the door). At the same time,  “спрос не бьёт в нос” (lit. asking won’t get you punched in the nose; it doesn’t hurt to ask). I find both English and Russian nuggets of wisdom rather dubious considering that if you ask questions and act nosy, you might get a rude не суй нос куда не надо response (don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong) or не суй нос не в своё дело (don’t stick your nose in someone else’s business).

If you listen to the news or сплетники (gossipers), you also know the wisdom of не верь своим ушам (don’t trust your ears). Frequently, people will вешать на уши лапшу (lie, tell tall tales; lit: hang noodles on one’s ears) and it takes some skill to recognize the lies. Although some people are better than others at чуять нутром (lit: feel with guts) what’s правда (truth) and what’s ложь (lie). For those of us without well-developed интуиция (intuition), the rule of thumb is не развешивать уши (not to listen open-mouthed; lit: with ears hanging).

But let’s move on from голова (head). Sure, there are quite a few more useful idioms, such as вертеться на кончике языка (to spin on the tip of one’s tongue), челюсть отвисла (jaw dropped), потерять голову (lose one’s head; i.e. from happiness), and such. But they are easy to understand except maybe this one снявши голову, по волосам не плачут (it’s not worth crying over spilt milk; lit: there’s no sense crying over hair once the head is taken off).

So let’s talk about arms and legs now. But first, here’s a handy phrase with the word “butt” in it – с одной попой на двух базарах не побываешь (can’t be in two places at once; lit: can’t be at two markets with one butt).

When someone is лёгкий на руку (lit: light-handed), it means that whatever this person undertakes works out well. For example, when you are лёгок на руку in your garden, you are said to have a green thumb. It’s also likely that you are rather handy unlike someone about whom people say руки не из того места растут (ham-handed, lit: hands growing from the wrong place).

Have you heard a phrase в ногах правды нет (truth is not in the legs)? There are several versions of the origin of this saying, but nowadays it means “take the weight off your feet”. Another confusing phrase with the word ноги (legs, feet) is делать ноги (to split, to leave in a hurry). And sometimes you might even hear a phrase ноги в руки и вперёд. Just don’t take it literally. The phrase simply means “get to it”.

If you know other idioms with body parts, share them here, either in Russian or in English.