Russian idiom for redundancy

Question

In Canada we have the idiom "selling ice to the eskimos" to illustrate someone doing something redundant. What is it in russian that illustrates redundancy? I've looked at lists of idioms but haven't seen any that illustrate redundancy.

Concerning snow - there is an expression that describes a very greedy person: "У него/неё зимой снега не выпросишь". — Artemix, Dec 21 '14 at 07:48

KCd · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-21T00:02:02.977

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For a native idiom, you are looking for

ездить в Тулу со своим самоваром

See the "Culture" section of the Wikipedia page about Tula for more information.

edited Dec 21 '14 at 00:02

answered Dec 20 '14 at 22:32

KCd

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score 15 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 21 '14 at 01:34

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There is also a phrase similar to taking coals to Newcastle:

дрова в лес возить

which means to carry wood back into the forest, to do something that is not needed.

answered Dec 21 '14 at 01:34

cansadadeserfeliz

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score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 20 '14 at 22:32

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When Israel sold snow-making machines to Russia for the Winter Olympiad in Sochi, there were lots of jokes that "jews sold to russians snow in winter". The expression продать снег зимой is quite well known. Although I don't think it's about redundancy; rather it means executing a clever con.

answered Dec 20 '14 at 22:32

MigMit

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I agree, that meaning is quite different from redundancy. Sell ice to the Eskimos = To persuade people to go against their best interests or to accept something unnecessary or preposterous. – naXa stands with Ukraine Dec 21 '14 at 01:05

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 22 '14 at 14:52

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There's also a series of idioms that follow the pattern of "...like [an animal] needs [an object]", e.g. "Мне это нужно, как зайцу велосипед" или "Им это нужно, как рыбе зонтик" etc.

answered Dec 22 '14 at 14:52

mustaccio

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Как зайцу стопсигнал – Boris Ivanov Dec 23 '14 at 10:08
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Как собаке пятая нога – Dmitry Ilukhin Dec 24 '14 at 08:34

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered May 01 '17 at 02:09

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Russian idiom with means redundant is 'Масло масленное', literally in english: 'Buttery butter'.

answered May 01 '17 at 02:09

igoryonya

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score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Dec 22 '14 at 07:51

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You can use in Russian the literal translation,

Продавать снег эскимосам "Sell snow to the eskimos"

But it would be understood as a hopeless enterprise, defective by design business rather than "persuading people against their will" as you say it means in Canada.

edited Dec 22 '14 at 07:51

Kromster

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answered Dec 21 '14 at 07:57

Anixx

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That sounds artificial. Better to say "продавать снег чукчам" – SomeWittyUsername May 07 '17 at 13:13
@SomeWittyUsername to me that sounds similar, and eskimos have an advantage of ice cream being named after them – Anixx Dec 23 '20 at 02:14

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Jun 18 '20 at 08:26

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Two more idioms for redundancy. Both are used to describe an action, performed with an inappropriate instrument:

Стрелять из пушки по воробьям (To shoot sparrows from a cannon).

Микроскопом гвозди забивать (To hammer nails with a microscope).

edited Jun 18 '20 at 08:26

Community

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answered Dec 22 '14 at 20:13

Dmitriy

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that's not redundancy, that's overkill. – Qwerty Dec 23 '14 at 15:43

Russian idiom for redundancy

7 Answers7