{"id":14389,"date":"2021-07-07T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=14389"},"modified":"2021-07-29T09:15:57","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T09:15:57","slug":"russian-idioms-with-%d0%ba%d0%b0%d0%ba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/russian-idioms-with-%d0%ba%d0%b0%d0%ba\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian idioms with \u2018\u043a\u0430\u043a\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Russian word connects geese, archaic measuring units, and a 14th<\/sup> century military commander of the Golden Horde? The answer is \u201c\u043a\u0430\u043a<\/strong>\u201d and today we will cover just a few commonly used Russian idioms with this word. And while \u2018\u043a\u0430\u043a\u2019<\/strong> can mean a number of different things in Russian (and is one of the 100 must-know Russian words<\/a>), here it\u2019s mostly synonymous with the English comparative word \u201clike\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"at

Photo by\u00a0cottonbro<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pexels<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\u041a\u0430\u043a \u043d\u0430 \u0434\u0443\u0445\u0443\u0301<\/strong><\/h4>\n

[Kak na dukhu<\/span>] \u2014to say everything as it is (literally: like at the confessional)<\/p>\n

In old Russian, \u201c<\/strong>\u043d\u0430 \u0434\u0443\u0445<\/strong>\u0443\u0301<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> meant \u2018at the confessional\u2019. When a person went to a confession, they \u201c\u0431\u044b\u043b\u0438 \u043d\u0430 \u0434\u0443\u0445\u0443\u0301<\/strong>\u201d. Even though today the word \u201c\u0434\u0443\u0445<\/strong>\u201d means \u2018a spirit\u2019, the phrase \u201c\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0301 \u043a\u0430\u043a \u043d\u0430 \u0434\u0443\u0445\u0443\u0301<\/strong>\u201d still means \u201csay it like it is\u201d, almost as if you were confessing in a church. Also, the stress falls on the second syllable of the word (\u2018\u0434\u0443\u0445\u0443\u0301<\/strong>\u2019).<\/p>\n

\u041a\u0430\u043a \u0430\u0440\u0448\u0438\u0301\u043d \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0433\u043b\u043e\u0442\u0438\u0301\u043b <\/strong><\/h4>\n

[Kak arshi<\/span>n progloti<\/span>l] \u2014 to stand very, almost unnaturally, straight (literally: like you swallowed an arshin)<\/p>\n

\u0410\u0440\u0448\u0438\u0301\u043d<\/strong> [arshin]<\/strong> is originally a Turkish word but has made its way into Russian language. It\u2019s a unit of length that equals almost 28 inches or 71 cm. Hypothetically, if one were to swallow a ruler of that length they would indeed be standing very straight. When used to describe someone, it means that the person\u2019s body language is very tense, and they are standing unnervingly upright. There are a few other archaic measuring units like \u2018arshin\u2019 that are only used in idioms and sayings. For example: \u201c<\/strong>\u0441\u0435\u0301\u043c\u044c \u043f\u044f\u0434\u0435\u0301\u0439 \u0432\u043e \u043b\u0431\u0443<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> (describing someone who is very smart), \u201c<\/strong>\u043a\u043e\u0441\u0430\u0301\u044f \u0441\u0430\u0301\u0436\u0435\u043d\u044c \u0432 \u043f\u043b\u0435\u0447\u0430\u0301\u0445<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> (describing someone as broad-shouldered), and \u201c<\/strong>\u043e\u0442 \u0432\u0435\u0440\u0448\u043a\u0430\u0301 \u0434\u0432\u0430 \u0433\u043e\u0440\u0448\u043a\u0430\u0301<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> (calling out someone, usually a kid, for being so young and yet trying to act like an adult).<\/p>\n

\u041a\u0430\u043a \u0432 \u0432\u043e\u0301\u0434\u0443 \u0433\u043b\u044f\u0434\u0435\u0301\u0442\u044c <\/strong><\/h4>\n

[Kak v vo<\/span>du glyade<\/span>t’] \u2014<\/strong>to foresee something correctly (literally: like looking into water)<\/p>\n

Water is believed to be a powerful transmitter of energy for fortune telling and anything witchcraft related across cultures. So, it makes sense that a saying surrounding water divinations will seep into Russian. Next time something you predicted comes true you can simple say \u201c<\/strong>\u041a\u0430\u043a \u0432 \u0432\u043e\u0301\u0434\u0443 \u0433\u043b\u044f\u0434\u0435\u0301\u043b\/ \u0433\u043b\u044f\u0434\u0435\u0301\u043b\u0430<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> (\u0433\u043b\u044f\u0434\u0435\u0301\u043b<\/strong> for masculine and \u0433\u043b\u044f\u0434\u0435\u0301\u043b\u0430<\/strong> for feminine verb ending).<\/p>\n

\"a

Photo by\u00a0Francesco Ungaro<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pexels<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\u041a\u0430\u043a \u0437\u0430 \u043a\u0430\u0301\u043c\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0441\u0442\u0435\u043d\u043e\u0301\u0439<\/strong><\/h4>\n

[Kak za ka<\/span>mennoy steno<\/span>y] \u2014<\/strong>to be or feel protected (literally: like behind a stone wall)<\/p>\n

This one is rather self-explanatory: you would say \u201c\u042f \u0441 \u0442\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0301\u0439 \u043a\u0430\u043a \u0437\u0430 \u043a\u0430\u0301\u043c\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0441\u0442\u0435\u043d\u043e\u0301\u0439<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> if you want to express that you feel protected around that person.<\/p>\n

\u041a\u0430\u043a \u043c\u0430\u043c\u0430\u0301\u0439 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0448\u0451<\/span>\u043b<\/strong><\/h4>\n

[Kak mama<\/span>i prosho<\/span>l] \u2014<\/strong>something is in a state of total mess and\/or emptied (literally: like mamai walked through)<\/p>\n

Unlike the rest of the idioms in this blog, this one has a specific historical setting. \u041c\u0430\u043c\u0430\u0301\u0439<\/strong> (Mamai) was a military commander of the Golden Horde who led multiple attacks on the Russian settlements in the 14th<\/sup> century. And even though the Battle of Kulikovo<\/a> on September 8 of 1380 was pivotal for the formation of the Russian state, the phrase \u201c<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a \u043c\u0430\u043c\u0430\u0301\u0439 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0448\u0451<\/span>\u043b<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> is still used to describe things in a state of destruction and complete mess.<\/p>\n

\"a

Photo by\u00a0Ellie Burgin<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pexels<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\u041a\u0430\u043a \u0441 \u0433\u0443\u0301\u0441\u044f \u0432\u043e\u0434\u0430\u0301<\/strong><\/h4>\n

[Kak s gu<\/span>sya voda<\/span>] \u2014 <\/strong>somebody who is unbothered by whatever life is throwing at them or whatever mean thing is said about them (literally: like water off a goose)<\/p>\n

There is a synonymous English saying, \u201clike water off a duck\u2019s back\u201d. I was curious about the origins of the two sayings but couldn\u2019t find anything that showed traceable etymological connection. For now, it remains one of those \u201cthe chicken or the egg\u201d questions.<\/p>\n

Which one of these have you used before?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"a

What Russian word connects geese, archaic measuring units, and a 14th century military commander of the Golden Horde? The answer is \u201c\u043a\u0430\u043a\u201d and today we will cover just a few commonly used Russian idioms with this word. And while \u2018\u043a\u0430\u043a\u2019 can mean a number of different things in Russian (and is one of the 100…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":14392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,82,8],"tags":[56889,1248,557228,1696],"class_list":["post-14389","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-idioms","category-language","tag-russian-idioms","tag-russian-language","tag-557228","tag-1696"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14389"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14461,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14389\/revisions\/14461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}