Interpretation of "Понеслась душа в рай!"

Question

I recently read a piece of text that was translated into Russian by a very reputable translator. In it, a couple was at a party when someone asked the husband what he thought of a new legislature. The wife, knowing that this would send the husband into an endless political tangent, said (in the English version) Oh boy! Here we go... The Russian translation was: Ну вот... понеслась душа в рай! To me, this would seem like "I've died and gone to heaven!", which would the opposite of what the wife meant according to the context.

Thanks in advance for your help :)

Victor, the users have been able to perfectly explain the meaning of this phrase WITHOUT the full fragment, so obviously it's not the ONLY thing that would help to understand. Actually, I've already understood - the woman is talking about her husband's soul - not her own. That was my misunderstanding and it's all cleared up. Thank you! — CocoPop, Jan 12 '18 at 14:01

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 06 '18 at 19:34

6

The idiom in this context means something like

He's now gotten into his element

but in negative sense.

answered Jan 06 '18 at 19:34

Баян Купи-ка

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So she's talking about his dusha or her own? – CocoPop Jan 06 '18 at 19:39
that's probably what's implied, but i've never really thought of it this way, it's just an expression which you say about somebody not about yourself – Баян Купи-ка Jan 06 '18 at 19:41
Aha! now THAT makes sense. She’s talking about her husband, not about herself. That was my confusion. Thank you! – CocoPop Jan 06 '18 at 20:52
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sure.... the first part of my previous comment was a bit off because i'd misread yours, but yes, she was talking about HIS soul – Баян Купи-ка Jan 06 '18 at 21:08

Dmitry · Answer 2 · 2018-01-06T19:42:14.410

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The root word of that translation is the word понеслась.
There are number of similar phrases based on this word having the same meaning, for instance:

Понеслась душа в рай.
Понеслась моча по трубам.
Понеслась пизда по кочкам (this is obscene, I'm sorry).
...
And just Понеслась.

The word Понеслась could be translated as:

Here we go.
Let's start the party.

edited Jan 06 '18 at 19:42

answered Jan 06 '18 at 19:28

Dmitry

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The most fundamental implication of them all is probably "he/she/it is unstoppable now". – Headcrab Jan 10 '18 at 01:08

Manjusri · Answer 3 · 2018-01-07T23:28:57.923

It's not opposite. The meaning is metaphorical, implying that the speaker (or an acting person) is as much attracted to the topic - or an acting person to an object of an action or to an action as such - as a soul is attracted to a paradise.

Therefore, the meaning cannot be entirely negative. It could be ironical, disrespectful and/or patronizing - as it is the case with the usage of 'Amen' in a sense of 'say no more' - but never entirely negative.

Interpretation of "Понеслась душа в рай!"

3 Answers3