Hello everyone! The Russian language is full of secrets and surprises, and you will never get bored exploring it. Just look at the word please in Russian – «пожалуйста». Generally, it helps us to be polite when we ask, request or demand – both in English and Russian. But there is another meaning of please in Russian. We say «пожалуйста» in the situations, where you would say ‘Here you are’ or ‘Take it’ in English. (далее…)
Did you know that the word Magazine looks and sounds (well, not 100 percent, of course) as a Russian word for a shop – магазин? I have been pulling together this list for months, so you are about to read something very special. 🙂 This is a list of so called English words in Russian, which sound very similar to each other in both languages, but have absolutely different meanings. Some still confuse even me sometimes. (далее…)
Hi guys! Today I am going to tell you about a Russian word that we use when talking about gay couples. Actually, there are many words of this sort and ways to say gay in Russian, but only one of them can be confusing to learners. That is the word «голубой» which, when out of sexual context, is translated as ‘blue’. And yes, when we hear the English expression ‘blue Monday’, we giggle. (далее…)
I bet if you ever talked to Russians or heard them talking, you’ve heard this Blin: «Блин!» or «Да блин!» Or «Ну блин!» Or «Блии-и-и-и-н….» If you type the word «блин» in a Russian-English dictionary, it will tell you that it means… a ‘pancake’. A pancake? O_o What is the word ‘pancake’ doing at the beginning of every other Russian sentence? Let’s answer this question! (далее…)
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. (далее…)
Hi everyone, today we are going to talk about bad language! There are two Russian swearwords I want to talk about – «хрен вам» and «фиг вам». They seem like an address to somebody, but they are not. Both these Russian swearwords mean pretty much the same thing – ‘like hell it will happen!’ Or ‘not bloody likely’ in American slang. Let’s check out some examples. (далее…)
Today I will tell you about a Russian word for Russian that we like to pronounce in the German way. As you might know, the phrase ‘the Russian language’ in Russian is «русский язык». The word «русский» means ‘Russian’ and the word «язык» means ‘language’. Sometimes in colloquial speech Russian folks don’t like to say «русский» but «руссиш» — from a German word ‘Russisch’ (‘Russian’). (далее…)