Sunday, November 21, 2010

When a simple "fuck off" is inapropos

отвязаться

otvyazatsa - lit. "to get untied from".  To leave alone.  "Ovyazhis' ot menya" - lit. "untie yourself from me" can mean anything from "too busy chillaxin' to talk about this" to "whatever it is you want isn't gonna happen right now" to "fuck off and die, you unbearably irritating cretin".  The tone and emphasis determines everything.

Friday, November 19, 2010

And We're Back

Ladies and gentlemen,

in honor of the idiom-stopping shenanigans of recent days, this one is going to be

зубодёр

zubodyor - lit. "tooth yanker" A dentist, usually an artless one.

Two things to remember about Soviet dentistry:  It existed in a primitive but pervasive way; Anesthesia pretty much didn't.  Serious root-work was out of the question, but they could cap, pull, and replace your teeth with steel ones.  The zubodyor was not your friend.  Or anyone else's.  At parties, he didn't tell people what he did for a living.

That's all in the past, though.  Nowadays, dental tourism is a pretty decent reason to visit Russia.  For some reason - perhaps the huge market of people who have never had the benefit of orthodontia - the zubodyori have really taken to modern methods and equipment and become a industry of dental surgeons notorious for their skill and relative detachment from first-world medical cost inflation.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

A Proper Russian Send-off, Pt. 2

Idi v zhopu - lit. "go into an ass".  Equivalent to "go to hell".  Soviet society enjoyed state-enforced secularity, so normal ways of telling people off - "may demons take you" or "go you to the devil" - were not exactly in vogue.  Hence, a non-religious, non-superstitious bad place to send people to. Whose ass is never specified. Hence, when translating the expression into English, the idea of the Collective Ass, appropriate to a collectivized society, is introduced.  "Go burrow in the asshole of mankind" would make a pretty sweet neologism.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

A Proper Russian Send-off, Pt 1.

Skatert'yu doroga - lit. "may the road ahead of you be as a tablecloth."  Usually used in the ironic sense to mean something like "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out" or "get the hell out of here already."  Sometimes meant sincerely to indicate wishes for a safe and smooth journey.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Getting chewed out is still too straightforward

Bochku katit' - lit. "to roll a barrel."  Alt. katit' telegu - "to roll an ox-cart."  To express a grievance at or seek conflict with someone.  Used to describe the behavior of others, usually unprovoked and needless.  While usually not used to describe issues of mortal import, this phrase is the exact right tenor for neighborhood or workplace feuds.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Getting chewed out is just too straightforward...

Otryt' vareshku - lit. "to open the mitten."  To harangue or berate someone.  Usually used in the sense of someone doing to/at you.  

Example:  "I was drinking in the kitchen with the patsany when my wife came in and opened the mitten at me about the noise and the hour and the work tomorrow.  So I told her that I got laid off today, and she opened the mitten at me some more about being unemployed."