{"id":15101,"date":"2022-03-28T06:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T06:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=15101"},"modified":"2022-03-26T16:33:04","modified_gmt":"2022-03-26T16:33:04","slug":"russian-malaphors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/russian-malaphors\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian malaphors?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have recently came across English malaphors \u2013 unique and often hilarious mix of idioms, aphorisms, or clich\u00e9s. The one I saw was \u201cLet\u2019s burn that bridge when we get to it\u201d. It is \u043e\u0441\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0443\u043c\u043d\u043e<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>witty<\/span>, and, as my mom noted, a poster that belongs in a divorce lawyer\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Of course, having chuckled at a few other English examples, I was immediately intrigued: \u0441\u0443\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0443\u044e\u0442 \u043b\u0438 \u00ab\u043c\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0444\u043e\u0440\u044b\u00bb \u0432 \u0440\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c \u044f\u0437\u044b\u043a\u0435?<\/strong>2<\/a><\/sup>Are there Russian malaphors?<\/span><\/p>\n

Some google searching revealed helpful articles<\/a> in Russian that explained what English malaphors were<\/a> but I could not find a single mention of such a whimsical thing in Russian.<\/p>\n

No doubt, there are many questions we have to answer, like \u201c\u0415\u0441\u0442\u044c \u043b\u0438 \u043c\u0435\u0441\u0442\u043e \u0434\u043b\u044f \u043c\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0444\u043e\u0440 \u0432 \u0440\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c \u044f\u0437\u044b\u043a\u0435?\u201d<\/strong>3<\/a><\/sup>Is there a place for malaphors in Russian?<\/span>, \u201cWhat would make them funny and whimsical?\u201d, \u201cWill Russian malaphors follow the same formula as the English malaphors?\u201d, and \u201cAnd should they be called ‘\u043c\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0444\u043e\u0440\u044b’<\/strong>?\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u041d\u043e \u0441\u0435\u0433\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044f, \u043d\u0435 \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u043e\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0447\u0430\u0442\u044c \u043d\u0430 \u0432\u043e\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u044b. \u0418\u043b\u0438 \u043f\u043e \u043a\u0440\u0430\u0439\u043d\u0435\u0439 \u043c\u0435\u0440\u0435 \u043d\u0435 \u043d\u0430 \u0432\u0441\u0435 \u0432\u043e\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u044b. \u0421\u0435\u0433\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044f<\/strong> \u2014 <\/strong>\u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f<\/strong> \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043a\u043b\u044e\u0447\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0439<\/strong>.4<\/a><\/sup>But today is not when we answer these questions. At least not all of them. Today is a time for adventure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some Russian malaphors I came up with along with a brief explanation of why I think they work or don\u2019t work. *All images in this post are drawn by author\u2019s little sister, Azil.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trial and error<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u042f \u0441\u0440\u0430\u0437\u0443 \u043f\u043e\u043d\u044f\u043b\u0430<\/strong>5<\/a><\/sup>I quickly realized<\/span> that just slapping two idioms together with no forethought was not going to work at all.<\/p>\n

For example, my first attempt was ironically with the idiom: \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439<\/strong> \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d<\/strong> \u043a\u043e\u043c\u043e\u043c<\/strong> \u2013 a superstitious yet cheerful saying that your first attempt at anything will not be successful<\/strong>. It literally means “the first pancake is a lumpy one”. Here is what I came up with:<\/p>\n

\u041f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u043a\u043e\u043c\u043e\u043c + \u0432 \u0434\u0432\u0443\u0445 \u0448\u0430\u0433\u0430\u0445 = \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u0432 \u0434\u0432\u0443\u0445 \u0448\u0430\u0433\u0430\u0445.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u041f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u043a\u043e\u043c\u043e\u043c + \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0433\u0430\u043b\u043e\u0447\u043a\u0438 = \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0433\u0430\u043b\u043e\u0447\u043a\u0438.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u041f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u043a\u043e\u043c\u043e\u043c + \u043a\u0443\u0440\u0430\u043c \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u043c\u0435\u0445 = \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u043a\u0443\u0440\u0430\u043c \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u043c\u0435\u0445.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"image

\u041f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u043a\u0443\u0440\u0430\u043c \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u043c\u0435\u0445<\/p><\/div>\n

This last one is the only funny one because it has the perfect substitution of the endings, since \u00ab\u043a\u043e\u043c\u043e\u043c<\/strong>\u00bb \u0438 \u00ab\u043a\u0443\u0440\u0430\u043c \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u043c\u0435\u0445<\/strong>\u00bb \u043f\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0436\u0438 \u043f\u043e \u0441\u043c\u044b\u0441\u043b\u0443<\/strong>6<\/a><\/sup>have a similar meaning<\/span>. It also made a better fit than the other two because the malaphor was funny visually \u2013 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0443\u0447\u0438\u043b\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0430\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043b\u044c\u043a\u043e \u043f\u043b\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0439 \u0447\u0442\u043e \u0434\u0430\u0436\u0435 \u043a\u0443\u0440\u044b \u0441\u043c\u0435\u044e\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0430\u0434 \u043d\u0438\u043c, \u0432\u043c\u0435\u0441\u0442\u043e \u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0447\u0442\u043e \u0431\u044b \u0435\u0433\u043e \u043a\u0443\u0448\u0430\u0442\u044c!<\/strong>7<\/a><\/sup>the pancake is so terrible that even the chickens are laughing at it instead of eating it<\/span> If you flip this malaphor on its head and give it the opposite effect it could have been something like \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u0431\u044b\u043b \u043a\u0430\u043a \u043f\u043e \u043c\u0430\u0441\u043b\u0443 (\u043f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u043d \u043a\u043e\u043c\u043e\u043c + \u043a\u0430\u043a \u043f\u043e \u043c\u0430\u0441\u043b\u0443). <\/strong>Now it means \u201cthe first pancake is going like it\u2019s sliding on butter\u201d or in other words, \u201cthis pancake was made with no problems\u201d. \u041e\u043a\u0430\u0437\u044b\u0432\u0430\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0435 \u0442\u0430\u043a \u0442\u043e \u044d\u0442\u043e \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e, \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0434\u0443\u043c\u044b\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c \u043c\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0444\u043e\u0440\u044b!<\/strong>8<\/a><\/sup>Turns out making up malaphors is quite tricky! <\/span>But we learned something in the process – malaphors work better if they are ‘visually’ funny.<\/p>\n

Bridging the gap<\/strong><\/h4>\n

So, I went even further and used the aforementioned \u201cburn the bridge\u201d malaphor as a base for my new experimenting. One of the things that made that malaphor work was having a common denominator: \u2018burn bridges\u2019 + \u2018cross that bridge\u2019 when we get to it. Here, it was (both literally and figuratively) \u201ca bridge\u201d that allowed for a smooth transition between the two idioms. Speaking of bridges, \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044f\u043c \u043a\u0438\u043d\u043e \u043e\u0447\u0435\u043d\u044c \u043f\u043e\u043d\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f \u043f\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0435\u0434\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u0431\u043b\u043e\u0433 \u0420\u0430\u0439\u0430\u043d\u0430<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was harder to find a good common denominator than I originally anticipated, but I came up with these two:<\/p>\n

\u0418\u0441\u043a\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0438\u0433\u043e\u043b\u043a\u0443 \u0432 \u0441\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0435 \u0441\u0435\u043d\u0430 + \u0441\u043e\u0431\u0430\u043a\u0430 \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u0435\u043d\u0435 = \u0438\u0441\u043a\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0441\u043e\u0431\u0430\u043a\u0443 \u0432 \u0441\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0435 \u0441\u0435\u043d\u0430<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0422\u0451\u0440\u0442\u044b\u0439 \u043a\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0447 + \u043a\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0447\u043e\u043c \u043d\u0435 \u0437\u0430\u043c\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0448\u044c = \u0442\u0451\u0440\u0442\u044b\u043c \u043a\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0447\u043e\u043c \u043d\u0435 \u0437\u0430\u043c\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0448\u044c<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"puppy

\u0418\u0441\u043a\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0441\u043e\u0431\u0430\u043a\u0443 \u0432 \u0441\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0435 \u0441\u0435\u043d\u0430<\/p><\/div>\n

While the first one makes a cute image of someone looking for their dog, it is neither witty nor useful. The second one makes more sense as a malaphor since \u0442\u0451\u0440\u0442\u044b\u0439 \u043a\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0447<\/strong> is a person who is not easily gullible and saying \u043a\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0447\u043e\u043c \u043d\u0435 \u0437\u0430\u043c\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0448\u044c<\/strong> mean that you can’t convince someone to do something even with bribes. So, what can we learn from these two examples?<\/p>\n

The key ingredient<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In conclusion, it is the juxtaposition of the idioms that creates the comedic effect in most of the malaphors.<\/p>\n

Here are my top five made-up malaphors that elicited some laughs or at least a nod of approval from my Russian-speaking friends, students, and family. A moment of appreciation for one of my students who made some great suggestions to the malaphors below.<\/p>\n

I would greatly appreciate your feedback on these in the comments below. What do you think of making up Russian malaphors? Have you heard of any malaphors in Russian or in your language? Would you like to make up some malaphors too?<\/p>\n

\"malaphors

Malaphors by author<\/p><\/div>\n