Bullshit in Russian: should an adjective derived from a noun mean the same?

Not always.

Today I will tell you about two Russian words – a noun and an adjective derived from the same root – that mean directly opposite things! Here are these words – «фигня» and «офигенный». They are ve-e-e-ery commonly used. «Фигня» is a noun and can be used in lots of different situations.

It means ‘stuff’, ‘hogwash’, ‘bullshit’, ‘trash’, ‘junk’, ‘mess’, ‘thingy’ and tens of others. I will definitely write an article on this one sometime soon. So bullshit in Russian is FIGNYA («фигня»).

No bullshit can be translated into Russian as «Не гони фигню», «Не неси фигню». Or just «Без фигни» or «Давай без фигни». That’s a very useful everyday expression, believe me!

I guess you noticed that none of these meanings imply something pleasant. Wouldn’t it be logical to expect that an adjective derived from this noun would have the same nuance?

Not in this case.

A Russian adjective «офигенный» (the word with the same root: «оФИГенный» — «ФИГня») means exactly the opposite! It’s weird, isn’t it? «Офигенный» can be translated as ‘awesome’, ‘cool’, ‘kick-ass’, ‘unbelievable’, ‘great’ and so on. Enjoy using this word, but don’t forget that it is very informal!

And don’t forget to subscribe to our website! And I will not forget to publish a new офигенный article next time.

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