http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooTUQ53Ra7U

I recently read an article in a Russian newspaper that talked about the demise of Russian animation. While the story was sad, it made me think of some of my favorite «мультфильмы» [cartoons]. And one of my most favorite ones was about «Простоквашино» [Prostokvashino]. It’s a story of how a small boy named «Дядя Фёдор» [Uncle Fyodor], a sophisticated cat «Матроскин» [Matroskin], and a mutt «Шарик» [Sharik] settle in an abandoned house in a small village of Prostokvashino.

There are 3 Prostokvashino episodes, all available on YouTube, but my favorite one is the last in the series, «Зима в Простоквашино» [Winter in Prostokvashino]. I watched it the other day with my son and laughed «до слёз» [so hard that I almost cried].

While the storyline is very simple, it’s the cultural references that make this cartoon so fantastic. At the same time, it might be one of the least comprehensible ones for the language learners. There’s definitely a lot that gets lost in translation. To help you out a bit, I decided to put together a bit of a Prostokvashino 101.

«при царе Горохе» [lit. in the times of tsar Gorokh] – this expression means “long time ago”.  So why not just say so in the first place? The mention of a mythical tsar Gorokh («горох» means “peas”) brings an element of «добродушная насмешка» [good-natured teasing] to whatever follows. The origin of the phrase is not certain, but another good Russian expression including «горох» [peas] is «шут гороховый» [motley fool].

«средства» [lit. means] – euphemism for money as in «средства к существованию» [means of existence] or a website Sredstva.ru that provides personal banking information. This is one of those words that are frequently mispronounced – «средства». Notice how the simpleton village mailman incorrectly says «средствов» instead of «средств» [genitive plural form] while a sophisticated urbanite cat replies with the correct pronunciation «средства» [nominative plural].

The entire opening scene shows how impractical Sharik the dog is. As all Russians know «держи голову в холоде, живот в голоде, а ноги – в тепле» [Keep your head cold, stomach – hungry, but feet – warm]. And running shoes simply won’t do it.

«Поздравляю! Шарик, ты – балбес» [Congratulations! Sharik, you are a bonehead] – the cat, Matroskin, is forced to start with a congratulation because he’s writing a message on a higher-priced special occasions form. This has become one of those «крылатые фразы» [catch phrases] and you can frequently hear «Поздравляю!» [Congratulations!] preceding a negative statement.

«Щас мы (кочергу) упакуем и передадим. Это же бандероль получается» [Now we’re going to pack and deliver it (the poker). It’s a parcel we’ve got here.] – what follows is a perfect visual explanation of what a «бандероль» is – a small package wrapped in paper.

A small note on the word «кочерга» [a poker]. There is a «забавная история» [an amusing short story] by Mikhail Zoshchenko that shows how much of a problem declension of some words can present even to the native speakers of Russian.

«Бочку катить» [lit. to roll a barrel] – the meaning of this phrase is “to come down hard” on someone as in «Ты что на меня бочку катишь? Я тут ни при чём.» [Why are you being so hard on me? It’s not my fault.]

«Что? Где? Когда?» [What? Where? When?] is a popular TV show first aired back in 1975, practically «при царе Горохе». In this very engaging game TV viewers send in their questions and a team of «знатоки» [experts] has 60 seconds to figure out the answer. Arriving at the correct answer usually requires good knowledge of general facts and trivia (that’s the “what, where, when” part) in combination with logical thinking.

«… ребенка достать» [to get a child] – the Dad in the cartoon tends to use dry humor, known in Russia as «английский юмор». This also means a joke that’s not laugh-out-loud funny. Another common phrase that refers to «туманный Альбион», a euphemism for England, is «уходить по-английски» [to depart English-style]. This means leaving without saying goodbye or making much fuss over one’s departure.

But back to the verb «достать» [to get]. It has two different meanings. One is to get to someone as in «Помолчи, пожалуйста. Ты меня уже достал!» [Be quiet, please. You are getting on my nerves!].

The second meaning, used in the cartoon, is to procure something. Back in the days of constant shortages, it wasn’t the money that counted, but the people you knew. Hence the word “buy” wasn’t used much for “big-ticket” or “cool” items. Instead, one would brag «Я наконец-то стенку достал» [I finally got a wall unit] or «Муж у меня – лопух. Но наконец-то ему удалось путевку на море достать» [My hubby is a simpleton. But he finally managed to get a hotel voucher for a seaside resort.]

«Новогодний голубой огонёк» [lit. The New Year’s blue light] – traditional TV show aired on New Year’s Eve (or right after midnight on January 1^st) consisting of songs, dances and sketch comedy. The name refers to the bluish light of a TV screen. For the longest time these pre-taped shows were the only New Year’s Eve TV entertainment.

«телогрейка» is a quilted jacket that is a traditional, if not very attractive, way of keeping one warm. It’s definitely a piece of winter clothing that, unlike «концертное платье» [formal gown], will leave even a super-model looking like a cement block.

«тчк» and «зпт»  stand for «точка» [period] and «запятая» [comma] respectively and were commonly used in «телеграммы» [telegrams]. The usual explanation for the abbreviations is that they were used to save money. That’s incorrect since telegrams were priced per word, not per character. The best explanation that I found was that way back in the days the telegrams were used primarily by reporters and had to follow a certain standard for readability and error reduction.

And that’s it for Part 1 of the «Зима в Простоквашино» [Winter in Prostokvashino] cultural review. Next time – Part 2 cultural stuff. Did I miss anything? If you’ve seen all the «Простоквашино» episodes, what’s your favorite? If I missed a word or a phrase that you want to know about, please leave a comment here or on our fanpage.

Almost forgot! Here’s your homework  – watch all Prostokvashino episodes on YouTube (just search for “Prostokvashino) and decide which one is your favorite.