We know every country has their own idioms, which often make no sense to anyone other than those who have grown up with them, but for those in the know, they make perfect sense!
We are bringing you Russia’s TOP TEN idioms, with a helping hand from renowned artist Nathan James. By the time you’ve familiarised yourself with these, we’re hoping you won’t get overexcited… but you’ll jump out of your pants!
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Russians Don’t Exaggerate, They 'Make An Elephant Out Of A Fly'
A Russian Won’t Lie To You, He’ll 'Hang Noodles On Your Ears'
You Are Not Just Talented Or Skilled, You Can 'Shoe A Flea'
It’ll Never Happen – ‘A Lobster Whistles On Top Of A Mountain’
A Russian Person Doesn’t Swear Something Is True… He Will ‘Give You His Tooth For It’
This ia just awful jail slang! ) This slang usually use bad educated and dumb people only ! Sometimes use as a joke about dumb people )
Russians Don’t Show Off… They ‘Throw Dust In Your Eyes’
Some of these sayings are used in other countries of Europe too, here in Croatia as well, so it's not just the "Russian" thing. :)
A Russian Doesn’t Say He’s In A Crowded Place, He Says He’s 'Like Herring In The Barrel'
A Russian Doesn’t Get Overexcited, He 'Jumps Out Of His Pants'
Russians Don’t Have A Snack, They 'Kill The Worm'
Slang too. More exactly that sounds something like this ."To excruciate a little worm to death"
Russians Don’t Say You Have An Interesting Aspect To Your Character, They Say You Have A 'Raisin'
The word used for raisin in this idiom is actually in the diminutive somewhat cutesy form. So if you have something interesting about you, that interesting thing about you is referred to as a baby raisin by this idiom. It is an odd expression, sure, but it is somewhat akin to "the cherry on top" expression in English, which to non-English speakers might seem like a similarly random food item metaphorically used to signify something extraordinary.
Some of the pictures are factually incorrect. In the case of the flea, it's shoes as in horseshoes, from Leskov's "Levsha" (The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea). In the case of the worm, you do not kill the worm by eating it - it's the imaginary worm that lives in your stomach and give you stomach ache when you are hungry, so you throw something in your stomach to quieten it.
As a Russian speaking person these sound really ridiculous when you think about what you're saying. Then again, so do a lot of idioms.
We have very similar ones in spanish. I.e. no herring in the barrel but sardines in a can. All but the one about the raisin sounded quite logical to me lol i may adopt a few.
Like it's not a plane bread, it's got something interesting in it - a raisin
The same goes for German: sardines in a can, make an elephant out of a mosquito, to jump out of the pants. Then there exist regional variations... to lie to someone: To bind a bear on someone or to nail a schnitzel onto someones knee.
There are the usual cupcake and have a cupcake with raisins! Cupcake with raisins - a more pleasant and interesting) When a person has unusual positive properties, it is said that he "has a little raisin" ))
"Matar el gusanito"
In Brazil we have some even more dramatic sayings, like if you've been through some difficult time in your life, we say you're basically "killing a dog with a yell" (matando cachorro a grito), a "give your tooth for it" is silly compared to "I'd kill my mother I wasn't telling true".
Idioms are the best. They're culturally essential and usually make no sense to people who are not from that culture -even when explained. I'd love to see idioms from other languages!
In iTunes there is an app called "English idioms illustrated". Great stuff, but have to pay if you want to see more. Also giving explanations.
Yes! Could you give any idiom from your language? It would be interesting as well
In some parts of latin america, instead of saying "I'm taking a nap" we say we're gonna "Iron the ear" (Planchar la oreja)
Some of the pictures are factually incorrect. In the case of the flea, it's shoes as in horseshoes, from Leskov's "Levsha" (The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea). In the case of the worm, you do not kill the worm by eating it - it's the imaginary worm that lives in your stomach and give you stomach ache when you are hungry, so you throw something in your stomach to quieten it.
As a Russian speaking person these sound really ridiculous when you think about what you're saying. Then again, so do a lot of idioms.
We have very similar ones in spanish. I.e. no herring in the barrel but sardines in a can. All but the one about the raisin sounded quite logical to me lol i may adopt a few.
Like it's not a plane bread, it's got something interesting in it - a raisin
The same goes for German: sardines in a can, make an elephant out of a mosquito, to jump out of the pants. Then there exist regional variations... to lie to someone: To bind a bear on someone or to nail a schnitzel onto someones knee.
There are the usual cupcake and have a cupcake with raisins! Cupcake with raisins - a more pleasant and interesting) When a person has unusual positive properties, it is said that he "has a little raisin" ))
"Matar el gusanito"
In Brazil we have some even more dramatic sayings, like if you've been through some difficult time in your life, we say you're basically "killing a dog with a yell" (matando cachorro a grito), a "give your tooth for it" is silly compared to "I'd kill my mother I wasn't telling true".
Idioms are the best. They're culturally essential and usually make no sense to people who are not from that culture -even when explained. I'd love to see idioms from other languages!
In iTunes there is an app called "English idioms illustrated". Great stuff, but have to pay if you want to see more. Also giving explanations.
Yes! Could you give any idiom from your language? It would be interesting as well
In some parts of latin america, instead of saying "I'm taking a nap" we say we're gonna "Iron the ear" (Planchar la oreja)