Is Polyglot Culture Understanding A Few Words Overheard In A Conversation In A Language You’ve Never

Дайте человеку хлеб - и он сыт весь день (Give a man bread and he's full all day long)

Дайте человеку арбуз - и он ссыт всю ночь (Give a man watermelon and he pisses all night)

There is a pun here, the two words sound absolutely the same: - сыт - is full. - ссыт - pisses This is what makes it very funny in Russian.

Vocabulary: сытый (short form: сыт, сыта, сыты) - to be full ссать - to piss (colloquial)

Me in a restaurant

Waiter: here's your glass Me: oh, thank you Waiter: *puts the glass down* Me: thank you Waiter: *fills the glass with water* Me: thank you Waiter: I'll bring your order soon Me: thank you

tag yourself

LOOK AT THESE KITTENS!

greedy-guts

meany

idler

crybaby

untidy

little thief

coward

Tell me, does anyone of you resemble these kittens?

Dmitri Prigov’s visual poetry

Dmitri Prigov (1940-2007) was a Russian conceptual poet, artist, and dissident. One of the things he is famous for is his стихограммы (стих ‘poem’ + грамма (’gram’, a part of words like phonogram or program, from Greek γράμμα ‘recording’)) 

I don’t understand much about poetry, and probably neither do you, but I mean look at that 

Как я весел! Как я мил! – How cheerful I am! How nice I am! Смерть рядом – Death is near

Ин вино веритас – ‘In vino veritas’ (Latin), In wine there is truth А в пиве что? – And what’s there in beer?

В начале было слово, и слово было у Бога, и слово было Бог (сentral circle) – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God  И свет во тьме светит – And the light shines in the darkness

Если враг не сдается, его уничтожают – If the enemy does not surrender, he must be destroyed Нет – No Враг – Enemy

И восстанут они все из могил своих, и призовут нас всех к ответу – And then they will all rise up from their graves and bring us all to justice

— Why do you always put parentheses in messages? — I feel more comfortable with them)) — What do you mean? — Parentheses look like they are hugging words and they become kinder))

RUSSIAN TEA VOCAB/ ALL THE NUANCES EXPLAINED

ча́й - the drink itself and a product in the store

ча́йная зава́рка or simply зава́рка - dry tea leaves in the packaging

ча́йный паке́тик - teabag

крупнолистово́й чай - whole-leave grade of tea

чаи́нка (the plural form чаи́нки is more common since usually there is more than one of them in your tea) - fannings, wet pieces of tea leaves or tea dust which fell into the tea

де́лать чай - to make tea. The construction is widely used and describes the process of making tea from any tea product i.e. leaves, tea bags.

ста́вить ча́йник - put on a kettle It is not common to say включи́ть чайник

поста́вь ча́йник = поста́вь во́ду - boil some water in kettle (usually for the tea)

я уже́ поста́вила ча́йник, ско́ро бу́дем пи́ть чай - I’ve already put the kettle on, we’ll have tea soon

зава́ривать (чай) - to brew. One of the steps of the process of tea making (usually from whole-leave grades of tea) when tea leaves are poured with hot water and left for a few minutes in the teapot. The process requires time as tea leaves need time to release natural chemicals. When it is happening the Russians say чай зава́ривается, i.e. the tea is being brewed.

зава́ривать ка́шу (to cook kasha) = to cause a situation that brings about troublesome or unpleasant consequences ну и ка́шу же ты завари́л! - what a mess you’ve made!

but! вари́ть ка́шу = to cook kasha

наста́ивать (чай) - to infuse. The idea of the process of настаивание is to wait longer than usual so the taste becomes strong enough. This verb can be used to explain the same process while preparing herbal teas and infusions.

Remember that this verb has two meanings!!! наста́ивать - to insist

подожди́, чай ещё не завари́лся = подожди́, чай ещё не настоя́лся - wait, the tea is not brewed yet

остужа́ть (чай) - to cool the tea down

электри́ческий чайник/электроча́йник - electric kettle

зава́рочный ча́йник - teapot

ча́шка = кру́жка - cup/mug traditionally ча́шка is the elegant cup with a special design, usually a part of a tea set. Кру́жка (mug) usually has a shape of a cylinder and larger than a regular cup. Now the differences are almost forgotten so you can use any word of your choice when you talk about tableware. But! It is always ча́шка/ча́шечка чая - a cup of tea

блю́дце - saucer

ча́йная ло́жка - teaspoon

ча́йный серви́з - tea set

моло́чник - milk jug

са́харница - sugar bowl

чай с са́харом (мёдом, варе́ньем, молоко́м, лимо́ном) - tea with sugar (honey, jam, milk, lemon)

#russian

The raddest Russian cat meme of 2021:

- Are you selling the fishes?

- No, just showing them.

- They are nice…

And some of its derivatives:

- Are you selling the fishes?

- No, just showing them.

- Oh fucking wow, they’re just showing them.

- Are you showing the fishes?

- No, I’m selling them.

- It is illegal.

- Hello, are you selling these fishes????

- They are cucumberz.

[FISH SHOP]

- Are you selling the fishes?

- No.

Life with Fishes VS Life without Fishes

Her: he’s probably thinking about other girls.

Him: why did he say that about the fishes? is he really not selling them? why is he showing them? was this a joke? was he making fun of the cats? because he knows that cats don’t have any money?

[I felt very sad about that meme with cats and fish, so I decided to make an alternative version]:

- Are you selling the fishes?

- Yes, but you, kitties, can have them for free.

- They are tasty…

The magic of the language...

Russian Idiom: как не знаю кто

Как не знаю кто often cannot be translated directly. It is an idiom meaning “to the extreme degree, too much”. “Я не знаю кто”, literally, I don’t know who, implies that any comparisons with other people or other events would be too weak, too pale. “I don’t know who could be as [something] as you are now”

Here are a few examples for you (thanks, Reverso Context) : 

Эти девушки смотрели на тебя как не знаю кто. These girls have been lookin’ at you like I don’t know what.

Нет, я еду домой, вымотался как не знаю кто. No, I’m going home. I’m completely soaked. 

Надевает наушники и радуется, как не знаю кто. He’s listening on his headsets, happy as a clam.

Ты пьяна как не знаю кто. You’re really drunk.

Воевали как я не знаю кто, чтобы сделать это. You have fought through hell to do so.