{"id":383,"date":"2009-08-03T05:02:13","date_gmt":"2009-08-03T09:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=383"},"modified":"2009-08-03T05:02:13","modified_gmt":"2009-08-03T09:02:13","slug":"%d0%90%d0%b2%d0%be%d1%81%d1%8c-or-a-really-russian-expression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/%d0%90%d0%b2%d0%be%d1%81%d1%8c-or-a-really-russian-expression\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0410\u0432\u043e\u0441\u044c! or a Really Russian Expression"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered if the things that work (i.e. are able to function\/have a function)<\/em> in Russia can ever work outside of Russia? I sure have! For example, in Russia your best friend’s \u00ab\u0431\u0430<\/span>\u0431\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [grandmother] will shower your breakfast \u00ab\u0433\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u043a\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [buckwheat] with \u00ab\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043b\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [butter] and \u00ab\u0441\u044b\u0440\u00bb<\/strong> [cheese] until all of these three ingredients melt together to become one tasty, brown and yellow high-calorie dish that’ll last in your stomach until… next week. And – because this dish was served to you in Russia – you do not gain any weight at all, but everything just goes to serve (as in the Russian phrase with which they always answer your \u00ab\u0441\u043f\u0430\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u0431\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> for serving you this surprisingly healthy meal)<\/em> \u00ab\u043d\u0430 \u0437\u0434\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u044c\u0435!\u00bb<\/strong> [for (your) health!]. In Russia this type of breakfast is a sure way of building up a storage of energy for the next long, cold \u00ab\u0437\u0438\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u00bb <\/strong>[winter], whereas in the rest of the world the exact same kind of meal will not have any other results than clogged veins and a drastically changed waistline.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041f\u043e\u0447\u0435\u043c\u0443<\/span>, \u043f\u043e\u0447\u0435\u043c\u0443<\/span>?\u00bb<\/strong> [why, why?] one may wonder indeed. But as a matter of fact the phenomena mentioned above is far from the only thing that works in Russia but has been proved to be unworkable in a large number of other countries in the world. One of the most exciting things that are \u2018really Russian’ <\/em>because they work only in Russia is the expression \u00ab\u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong>. \u00ab\u0410\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> should be pronounced with a long, stressed \u00ab\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> sound, and then the \u00ab\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [soft sign] on the letter \u00ab\u0441\u00bb<\/strong> in the end of it makes the s-sound long and very, very soft – imagine it combined with a j<\/em> on the end and then practice until you think you’re pronouncing this word like a three year old. That’s when you’ve found the correct pronunciation! \u00ab\u0410\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> can be used in a number of different situations in Russia (all of them are however rather similar, but let’s not get into details right now…)<\/em> and that’s why it also belongs to different parts of speech and can be translated differently into other languages. \u00ab\u0410\u0432\u043e\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> can be \u00ab\u043d\u0430\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0438\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [an adverb] and then it means \u2018perhaps; maybe; possibly’<\/em>. This can be illustrated in two popular Russian expressions you’re bound to hear sooner or later:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0410\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c \u043f\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0437\u0451<\/span>\u0442!\u00bb<\/strong> – [Maybe (we’ll\/I’ll\/you’ll) get lucky!; or: have some luck!]<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0410\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c \u0411\u043e\u0433 \u043f\u043e\u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u0435\u0442!\u00bb<\/strong> – [Perhaps God will help!]<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0410\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> can be \u00ab\u0441\u0443\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e\u0435<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [a noun] and then it is \u00ab\u043c\u0443\u0436\u0441\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [masculine] and thus known first and foremost as \u00ab\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> which is what is said about the alleged unconcern of Russians and their tendency to rely on luck. \u00ab\u0410\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> can’t be translated into other languages without almost entirely loosing essential parts of its meaning, but it can be translated into other Russian word, like \u00ab\u0431\u0435\u0437\u043e\u0441\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0430\u044f<\/strong> \u043d\u0430\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u0434\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [groundless; unfounded hope], \u00ab\u0441\u043b\u0443\u0447\u0430<\/span>\u0439\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0443\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [accidental; unexpected; random luck; success; fortune] and \u00ab\u043f\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u043f\u043e\u043a \u0432 \u0440\u0430\u0441\u0447\u0451<\/span>\u0442\u0435 \u043d\u0430 \u0443\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [an act calculated on luck]. This you can find in the expression:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0414\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0447\u0442\u043e<\/span>-\u0442\u043e \u043d\u0430 \u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> – [To do something and hope that maybe somehow you’ll get lucky and things will turn out alright even though you have done nothing else but hope to make this particular thing turn out alright].<\/p>\n

The week before I left Yekaterinburg and Russia for going home to Sweden to see my family and friends (yes, currently and for another month and a half I’m going to be outside of the Great Motherland and inside My Own Motherland) <\/em>I had a conversation with one of my Russian friends. She told me that when she was a student she would only study half of the questions for every exam – \u00ab\u043d\u0430 \u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong>. I was very surprised when I heard this because it is surely not something I would ever consider doing myself; perhaps that’s a sign that I’m not really Russian even after half a decade in the country? My friend told me that studying \u00ab\u043d\u0430 \u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [counting only on luck] really worked out for her. She finished university with \u00ab\u043a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0434\u0438\u043f\u043b\u043e\u043c\u00bb<\/strong> [a red diploma] which is what you receive if your grades consist of no more than 20% \u00ab\u0445\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043e<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [\u2018good’<\/em>; B or 4] and the rest is all \u00ab\u043e\u0442\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [\u2018excellent’<\/em>; A or 5]. After this I decided to try out \u00ab\u0430\u0432\u043e\u0441\u044c\u00bb for myself. Last Saturday, on the 1st<\/sup> of August, I took the TOEFL test in English in Stockholm and during the week before it I decided to prepare for it only by way of \u00ab\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb<\/strong>, i.e. by not preparing at all. I figured that I speak pretty good English anyway and that I’ve lived in Russia long enough to become a little bit Russian myself so maybe I can make use of truly Russian privileges like counting only on a little bit of luck and nothing else. But during the test it hit me that I’m not in Russia anymore. And what if this really Russian way of thinking only works in Russia?<\/p>\n

In three weeks I’ll receive my results and only then we’ll know for sure if we can count on \u00ab\u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u00bb <\/strong>also in other parts of the world!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When in Rome… not only Russians tend to rely on \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong>, sometimes also foreigners in Russia do so. Like when my German friend on the way back from the Pilorama Festival last weekend saw this truck stuck in mud and said: \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0410\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u0435\u043c<\/em><\/strong>!\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [Maybe we can help!] And that’s when he put his four wheel drive to the test…<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

… but not always will \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> be anything else but a \u00ab<\/strong><\/em>\u0447\u0430\u0441\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0446\u0430<\/em><\/strong>\u00bb<\/em><\/strong> [particle] meaning <\/em>\u2018suddenly; what if; maybe’. We couldn’t help the truck but had to wait for a caterpillar to arrive and pull him out of the deep, thick Ural ground…<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Have you ever wondered if the things that work (i.e. are able to function\/have a function) in Russia can ever work outside of Russia? I sure have! For example, in Russia your best friend’s \u00ab\u0431\u0430\u0431\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0430\u00bb [grandmother] will shower your breakfast \u00ab\u0433\u0440\u0435\u0447\u043a\u0430\u00bb [buckwheat] with \u00ab\u043c\u0430\u0441\u043b\u043e\u00bb [butter] and \u00ab\u0441\u044b\u0440\u00bb [cheese] until all of these three ingredients melt…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8,913],"tags":[1248,1251,1288,1292,1409,1691,1696],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","category-traditions","tag-russian-language","tag-russian-luck","tag-russian-traditions","tag-russian-way-of-thinking","tag-1409","tag-1691","tag-1696"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t