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 many many more times!)

So yes, this is going to be a post with lots of Gangnam Style in it. But we are going to use it to learn more about Russia. Particularly, let’s see how Russians poke fun at themselves and Russian stereotypes through Gangnam Style-based приколы (jokes) and стёб (jeering).

If you’ve never heard the word стёб, it is a noun with a meaning that ranges from a fairly benign poking fun at something to rude jeering, although it tends to lean toward the latter. The verb for engaging in стёб is стебаться. Be careful pronouncing both the noun and the verb. The beginning ст- sounds are all-important as they separate the totally PG-rated стёб and стебаться from the very непечатные (explicit; lit: not fit to print) words for sexual intercourse.

Стёб is not the same as joking or making fun of something. Стёб to прикол (a joke) is the same as Lady Gaga to Britney Spears. It is provocative, grotesque, and shocking. It’s what standup comedians are especially good at. In short, it’s also great at making fun of things and people as long as it doesn’t cross the line into глум.

Глум (a sneer) and глумиться (to sneer) are pretty evil. If you’ve ever been humiliated, especially publicly, for the way you look or talk or do things, then you were an object of глумление (sneering). Politically incorrect jokes are often a way глумиться над (to sneer at) specific groups of people.

Back to Gangnam Style… Let’s gets started with the обзор (overview) of Gangnam Russian style.

#1 Original Video, but Russian Lyrics

In case you’re wondering, the chorus sings

У нас сегодня дискотека,
Опэн эйр, крутой диджей.
У нас сегодня дискотека,
На поляне полно людей.
Оп, оп, опа, горностай!

(Today we’re dancing,
Open air, cool DJ.
Today we’re dancing
And the clearing is full of people.
Opa, weasel!)

Yep, doesn’t make much sense, but neither does the original. Plus you get to learn that weasel in Russian is горностай although if you wear a шуба из горностая, you might prefer saying it’s an ermine fur coat.

#2 Russian singer, Russian lyrics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc5hZeR4iCk

This actor and singer-songwriter, Nikita Djigurda, is known for his antics and откровенный стёб (undisguised jeering). The chorus lines:

Я – нормальный
Я – гениальный
Я – сексуальный
(I am normal,
I am brilliant,
I am sexy)

Hey, those are all good phrases to know!

#3 Mash-up

If Gangnam Style by itself is not sufficiently high octane for you, check this one out. It’s a mashup of Верка Сердючка (Verka Serdyuchka) with her crazy Чида-Гоп (Chida-Hop) song and PSY. Don’t forget to check out the original Chida-Hop video.

#4 Opa, Russian Style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnnpi2VI89c

This goes into the category of наш ответ Чемберлену (a response that is supposed to one-up the opponent, but in general is rather lame, lit: our response to Chamberlain; a catch phrase stemmed from the 1927 Soviet propaganda campaign).

While neither the lyrics nor the music is from PSY’s video, there are unmistakable references. It’s fun to try to count all the Russian stereotypes featured in this video, from кокошник (traditional head-dress) to баня (Russian sauna).

In case you’re wondering, the chorus lines are

Ах мама, мамуля,
Зачем же всем говорю я,
Я не такая,
я жду трамвая

(Oh, mother, mother,
Why do I tell everyone
I am not like that
I’m waiting for a tram)

The phrase “Я не такая, я жду трамвая” basically means “I’m not here to hook up, I am here on business”.

Enjoy! Know of any other good Russian-style parodies? Share them in the comments.