What does blin in russian mean and why it’s so common?

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!

So, what does Blin in Russian mean?

«Блин» can not only be a ‘pancake’. When not talking about food, it means ‘damn!’ or ‘damn it!’ or ‘shit!’ or ‘gosh!’ or ‘blast it!’ Choose anything you like. «Блин» being an emotional link between words does not have any independent meaning. It’s a filler. But what a filler it is! It’s everywhere in Russian speech. Always and forever.

Ok. Let’s have a look at some examples.

1. ‘The shop is closed. I am only 2 minutes late. Блин!’

2. ‘Блин, are you going or not? Am I supposed to wait for an hour?’

3. ‘Блин, you should have told me about that!’

4. ‘Hey, Anna, where are you?’ – ‘Ну блин, I have just cleaned the floor and here you are in those dirty boots of yours!!!’

If your dictionary doesn’t give you an informal definition of «блин» don’t hesitate to throw it out.

I hope this one is clear enough. Russians say «блин» a-a-all the time. So do the same! Try to use «блин» as often as possible and soon you will feel the taste of it!

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