{"id":632,"date":"2010-03-31T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-31T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=632"},"modified":"2010-03-31T07:33:32","modified_gmt":"2010-03-31T07:33:32","slug":"on-the-seriousness-of-russian-proverbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/on-the-seriousness-of-russian-proverbs\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Seriousness of Russian Proverbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Do Russians take their \u00ab\u043f\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u043a\u0438 \u0438 \u043f\u043e\u0441\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0438\u0446\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [pl. proverbs and sayings]<\/a> seriously? I think so, but I\u2019ll let you decide for yourselves – here\u2019s the Russian proverb \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435 \u0435<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0448\u044c, \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0431\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0448\u044c<\/a>\u00bb <\/strong>[lit. \u2018the slower you go, the farther you\u2019ll get\u2019] in action placed on a sign over one of Yekaterinburg\u2019s busiest streets.<\/em><\/p>\n

Not only do Russians often comment on occurrences in every day life by using \u00ab\u043f\u043e\u0441\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0438\u0446\u0430\u00bb <\/strong>[a proverb] or \u00ab\u043f\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u043a\u0430\u00bb <\/strong>[a saying], sometimes they\u2019ll even use \u00ab\u0446\u0438\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [pl.<\/em> quotes] from famous Russian and\/or classic Soviet movies which \u00ab\u0432\u043e\u0448\u043b\u0438<\/span> \u0432 \u043f\u043e\u0441\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0438\u0446\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [past tense: became proverbial]. Not always will these quotations fit the situation in question, but Russians are not strangers to adaptation. For example, when things didn\u2019t work out with my boyfriend I explained it to my professor here at Ural State University by saying: \u00ab\u043c\u043d\u0435 \u043d\u0435 \u0432\u0435\u0437\u0451<\/span>\u0442 \u0432 \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0432\u0438<\/span>\u00bb <\/strong>[I\u2019m unlucky in love]. As an answer to this he told me: \u00ab\u043d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0437\u0451<\/span>\u0442 \u0432 \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0432\u0438<\/span>, \u0442\u0430\u043a \u043f\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0437\u0451<\/span>\u0442 \u0432 \u0441\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0442\u0438\u00bb <\/strong>[\u201dif (you\u2019re) <\/em>not lucky in love, then (you\u2019ll)<\/em> get lucky in death\u201d]. This expression was actually nothing else but a reversal of the famous quote \u00ab\u043d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0437\u0451<\/span>\u0442 \u0432 \u0441\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0442\u0438, \u0442\u0430\u043a \u043f\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0437\u0451<\/span>\u0442 \u0432 \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0432\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [\u201cif (you\u2019re)<\/em> not lucky in death, then (you\u2019ll)<\/em> get lucky in love] from the classic Soviet movie \u00ab\u0411\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u043e\u0435 \u0441\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u043d\u0446\u0435 \u043f\u0443\u0441\u0442\u044b<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u00bb<\/a><\/strong> [\u201cWhite Sun of the Desert\u201d<\/a>]. Russians do this all the time \u2013 comment on every day life by using sometimes quotes from movies, sometimes century old proverbs, sometimes reversing them around to fit certain specific circumstances. Not always do they get it right (see the above-described incident with my Russian professor!)<\/em>, but they almost always succeed with one thing: \u00ab\u043f\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0438\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0446\u0430\u00bb <\/strong>[impfv.<\/em> to confuse the foreigner].<\/p>\n

I remember the first time we discussed the proverb \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435 \u0435<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0448\u044c, \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0431\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0448\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> in class back when I was still a beginner of Russian studying the language in Siberia. The expression made no sense to me at all when I translated it literally as: \u201cthe slower you go, the further you\u2019ll be\u201d. How can that be? How can I get further if I\u2019m going slower? Where\u2019s the logic here? It took me a long time before I realized what this proverb actually meant: \u201cif you do something fast and sloppy then it won\u2019t give good results\u201d. The first thing we should know about Russian proverbs is that they often place the verb in second person singular \u2013 leaving the pronoun \u00ab\u0442\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [you] out of the sentence, though. But by doing this proverbs and sayings are not actually pointing at \u2018you!\u2019<\/em> as an individual but at everyone together. This is in Russian called \u00ab\u0431\u0435\u0437\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u0430\u044f \u043a\u043e\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u043a\u0446\u0438\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [an impersonal construction] and uses either a verb in second person singular \u2013 like \u00ab\u0435<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0448\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> above \u2013 or a verb in third person plural \u2013 like in the expression \u00ab\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u044f\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> literally \u2018they say\u2019<\/em> but usually it means \u2018it is said\u2019<\/em> (meaning we don\u2019t know who \u2018they\u2019<\/em> are). When dealing with the above-mentioned proverb the second thing we should take into account is what exactly the word \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> means in this context.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0422\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435\u00bb <\/strong>is comparative to both the adverb \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0445\u043e\u00bb <\/strong>[quietly; softly; slowly] and the adjective \u00ab\u0442\u0438\u0445\u0438\u0439\u00bb <\/strong>[soft, low; quiet, still; calm, tranquil]. One way of using the adverb together with its comparative version \u2013 as a simple illustration \u2013 could be like this: \u00ab\u043e\u043d \u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438<\/span>\u043b \u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0445\u043e\u00bb <\/strong>[he spoke quietly] but \u00ab\u043e\u043d\u0430<\/span> \u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0430 \u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435\u00bb <\/strong>[she spoke more quietly]. The adverb together with an exclamation mark \u2013 like this: \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0445\u043e!\u00bb <\/strong>– means \u2018take it easy!\u2019<\/em> or \u2018be careful!\u2019<\/em>. Thus saying \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435!\u00bb<\/strong> as an interjection translates into English as \u2018quiet!\u2019 <\/em>or a \u2018please be quiet!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0422\u0438\u0448\u0435\u00bb <\/strong>as comparative to the adjective \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0445\u0438\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> can be illustrated like this: \u00ab\u0432\u0447\u0435\u0440\u0430<\/span> \u0431\u044b\u043b\u0430<\/span> \u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0445\u0430\u044f \u043d\u043e\u0447\u044c\u00bb <\/strong>[last night was a calm night] but \u00ab\u0441\u0435\u0433\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u044f \u043d\u043e\u0447\u044c \u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435\u00bb [<\/strong>tonight the night is calmer]. (I know this example is pretty crappy and maybe not really what could be used in real life, but hey! the grammar\u2019s alright anyway).<\/em> This adjective is also used in the following expressions: \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0445\u0438\u0439 \u0445\u043e\u0434!\u00bb <\/strong>[(as a warning to drivers in dangerous areas or after a road accident) <\/em>drive slowly!] and \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0445\u0438\u0439 \u0447\u0430\u0441\u00bb <\/strong>[hour of rest (on hospitals, kindergartens etc)<\/em>].<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0422\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435\u00bb <\/strong>can be found also in another Russian proverb, but this time it doesn\u2019t mean \u2018slower, more carefully\u2019<\/em> as in the previous proverb using it, but \u2018quieter\u2019<\/em>: \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435 \u0432\u043e\u0434\u044b<\/span>, \u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0436\u0435 \u0442\u0440\u0430\u0432\u044b<\/span>\u00bb <\/strong>[lit.<\/em> \u2018quieter than water, lower than the grass\u2019]. An English equivalent of this proverb I think it would be \u201cquite as a mouse\u201d (that\u2019s how it is translated into Swedish anyway). What do you think? Which English proverb would you translate it into? And not only this one, but also the first one \u2013 \u00ab\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u0435 \u0435<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0448\u044c, \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0431\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0448\u044c\u00bb<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

I think it would be safe to say that Russians take their proverbs very seriously \u2013 seriously enough to put them up on their roads (where they lose their figurative meaning and acquire their \u2018original\u2019<\/em> connotation) as a way to make drivers slow down \u2013 for they\u2019ll get farther in the end anyway!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Do you find it difficult to understand what Russian proverbs mean? You’re not alone! It has happened to us all. But to understand this part of Russian language is imperative because Russians take their proverbs seriously. Yes, they do.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8,7828],"tags":[1195,1211,1237,1248,1268,8043,8044,8042,8041,1648,1670,1674,1696,8040,8039],"class_list":["post-632","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","category-russian-for-beginners","tag-proverbs","tag-russia","tag-russian-grammar","tag-russian-language","tag-russian-proverbs","tag-sayings","tag-white-sun-of-the-desert","tag-8042","tag-8041","tag-1648","tag-1670","tag-1674","tag-1696","tag-8040","tag-8039"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632","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\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":637,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632\/revisions\/637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}