When Somebody Tries to Get Your Goat Posted by yelena on Jul 17, 2013
As a good old Russian saying goes, все болезни – от нервов (all illnesses are from stress). Actually, that’s only the first, the most-often quoted, half of the saying. Some say that yoga and meditation help deal with the daily stress. But a healthy dose of Russian can do the same as long as you…
Russia – the Land of the Crocodiles Posted by yelena on Jul 8, 2013
You might already know that Россия – родина слонов (Russia is the home of elephants). But did you know that крокодилы (crocodiles) are also very popular in Russia? Don’t believe me? Back in 1582 Russian летописцы (chroniclers) mentioned an appearance of crocodiles near the city of Pskov. But that’s all ancient history. It’s time to…
A little more about feelings… Posted by Rob on Jun 25, 2013
A couple weeks ago, we looked at some basic “emotion” terms in Russian — how to express that you’re “Feeling Glad, Sad, or Mad.” This time, we’ll round out that list with a few more feelings. To continue the rhyming theme, let’s talk about how to say, um… “Feelin’ Bad, Or Like a Cad, Or…
Serfin’ the tide of Russian history Posted by Rob on Jun 13, 2013
Since I’ve done a number of vocabulary and grammar posts recently, I thought that this week, for a change of pace, we’ll take a look at Russian history. And, more specifically, the history of that peculiar institution known as крепостничество (“serfdom”) — which for hundreds of years was the curse of the Russian poor and…
“Never have I felt such [fill in emotion here]…” Posted by Rob on May 30, 2013
When Russians ask you «Как ты чувствуешь себя?» (“How are you feeling?”), the expected answer would be something like “My cough seems to be getting worse” or “The traveler’s diarrhea is finally clearing up?” — in other words, they’re asking about your physiological well-being. On the other hand, if they want to know about your…
Shave and a haircut, two bits! Posted by Rob on May 23, 2013
Even if you don’t know the words, anyone who’s ever seen an old Bugs Bunny cartoon will recognize the seven-note melody of “Shave and a haircut…” — it’s classically used as a musical accompaniment to punctuate the end of a joke. And I instinctively hummed the tune after I found this great little анекдот…
Here’s to our mothers! Posted by Rob on May 15, 2013
In the US and several other countries, второе воскресенье мая (“the second Sunday in May”) is День матери, Mother’s Day. In Russia, moms have usually been honored on Восьмое марта (“the 8th of March,” aka “International Women’s Day”), though technically there is a День матери in late November. ˇˆ^ √¬ ^~~√ˇˆ^~ ტპձ պՁԺზ ჭნწ჻ უ…