Continuing the topic of Russian humor, I would like to draw your attention to a humorous poetry form that emerged on the Russian Internet a few years back. You are probably familiar with limericks (лимерики), which have caught on in Russia(n), as well. However, there is a newer form that gained some popularity online. The form is called пирожок (plural пирожки), also the name of a Russian food.

Let’s take a look at one before we delve into details. I’ll mark the stress in this one, but the stress pattern is always the same.

оксана вместо в проститутки
в педагогический пошла
но маме это не сказала
решила маму поберечь
© пуля

Synopsis: Oksana went to a teaching college instead of becoming a prostitute, but didn’t tell her mom because Oksana wanted to spare her feelings. If this makes no sense to you, think about the teachers’ status and pay in Russia.

The rules of the pirozhok are as follows:

• 4 lines
• iambic tetrameter
• no rhyme
• no capital letters
• no punctuation
• numbers are spelled out
• Cyrillic only
• syllabic consonants must be spelled out as vowels (октябырь, Александыр)

All of these concern the form of the пирожок, what about the content? I like what a Вконтакте group dedicated to пирожки said:

• хороший пирожок нарушает привычную логику, создаёт свой мир со своими законами (a good pirozhok disrupts conventional logic and creates its own world with its own laws)
• в хорошем пирожке есть разрыв шаблона, инсайт или дзен (a good pirozhok blows your mind, provides insight or zen)

Whether you or not you find these rhymes funny, they are great for many reasons. First, they will enrich your vocabulary and help you with slang and puns. Second, they provide insight into contemporary Russian life and culture. Finally, thanks for their rhythm pattern, пирожки will help you with word stress and pronunciation.

Let’s look at a few other пирожки. You can find many more on Вконтакте, LiveJournal, and elsewhere online.

прощайте злые минус тридцать
я ухожу туда где чай
где муза солнце и свобода
в домашний теплый интернет
© estь

* минус тридцать, -30 degrees Celsius = -22 degrees Fahrenheit
* злой – wicked

я думал будет грозный ангел
ну или бабушка с косой
а тут девчонка молодая
флюорограмму выдает
© Hippy

* грозный – terrible, formidable
* коса – scythe; symbol for death
* флюорограмма – chest X-ray; used in Russia for TB screening

олег жене не изменяет
не матерится и не пьет
к добру людей меняет сильно
их неожиданная смерть
© Сергей Кот

*изменять кому? (dative) – to cheat on someone
* материться – to swear
* к добру – for better

олег учился на соседа
в спецальной школе десять лет
и получил на окончанье
в подарок перфоратор бош
© Ghella Harkness

* учиться на кого? (accusative) – to study to become someone (an occupation)
* окончанье – graduation
* перфоратор – hammer drill

то нету силы есть работа
то нет работы сила есть
то есть и сила и работа
а нужен косинус угла
© broad

* сила – strength; force (in physics)
* работа – work
* косинус – cosine
* угол – angle

On a sidenote, a modified rhyme where the last line only has two syllables is called порошок. An example is

пришел бетховену по почте
какой то странный коробок
с письмом дарю тебе нужнее
ван гог
© Алексай

* прийти по почте – to arrive in the mail
* коробок – a small box
* нужно кому? (dative), comparative нужнее – needed
* Ван Гог – Van Gogh

What do you think about this little rhyme pattern? Can you try to write a пирожок in Russian or in your language?