Most Popular

1500 questions
15
votes
5 answers

What are Russian equivalents of the English idiom "spread yourself too thin"?

What are Russian equivalents of the English idiom "spread yourself too thin", which is often used in: "Try not to spread yourself too thin." From The Free Dictionary: spread yourself too thin to try to do too many things at the same time, so that…
rapt
  • 557
  • 3
  • 8
15
votes
2 answers

Etymology/Origin of "Грузия"

In many languages, the name of the country Georgia is derived from the name of St.George. In Georgian, Georgia is called საქართველო(Sakartvelo), so obviously Грузия has nothing to do with it either. What is the origin of Грузия? Does it have…
Armen Tsirunyan
  • 5,367
  • 1
  • 30
  • 49
15
votes
2 answers

Странный слог А. Дубровского

В романе Пушкина «Дубровский» повествователь, комментируя следующее письмо, написанное одним из персонажей, Государь мой премилостивый, Я до тех пор не намерен ехать в Покровское, пока не вышлете Вы мне псаря Парамошку с повинною; а будет моя…
15
votes
6 answers

What form is "в гости"?

So, "Я в гостях" seems to be prepositional plural of гость "Я иду в гости" leaves me puzzled, though. According to conjugation tables, it is nominative plural, while в used to express direction requires accusative (which is гостя or гостей - "Я иду…
Pasha Syrnikov
  • 562
  • 3
  • 13
15
votes
4 answers

How would you translate "I'm rusty" (in relation to a skill) to Russian?

For example, if I wanted to say "I'm really rusty at chess because I have not played it in a long time", how would I do so while sounding more or less casual? I could say something like "Я совсем забыл, как играть в шахматы", but that feels a bit…
14
votes
6 answers

"Пока чайник закипит" or "пока чайник не закипит"

There is a russian joke the optimist is that who says "Ждать, пока чайник закипит" and pessimist is, in turn, a person who'd prefer to say "Ждать, пока чайник не закипит". Those two form are opposite grammatically and are identical in this…
shabunc
  • 37,983
  • 5
  • 90
  • 152
14
votes
6 answers

What does "Больше ада" mean?

Больше ада seems to be a meme on the Russian internet, but what does it mean in practice? The literal translation of "More/better hell" does not seem to explain the context, and the random comment that leads me to ask this likens this Richard…
lambshaanxy
  • 243
  • 1
  • 6
14
votes
2 answers

Difference between грусть, печаль, тоска?

When to use one or the other, and in wich context?
omittones
  • 243
  • 1
  • 4
14
votes
1 answer

Как возникло слово "прошивка" в смысле firmware (программа в телефоне, читалке, другом гаджете)?

В обсуждении вопроса о переводе firmware на русский язык мнения о слове "прошивка" разделились. Кто-то утверждают что это слэнг, другие утверждают что это уже литературное слово. Но у меня возник вопрос - каким образом слово "прошивка" стало…
Artemix
  • 11,331
  • 3
  • 40
  • 84
14
votes
6 answers

What are the common responses to "как дела?"

When somebody asks как дела?, what are the common things that I can use to answer?
ycomp
  • 337
  • 1
  • 3
  • 7
14
votes
2 answers

Put noodles onto somebody's ears?

I've been asked to explain why people say вешать лапшу на уши for uncovering lies and expressing distrust. Where does it come from?
Trident D'Gao
  • 4,252
  • 27
  • 45
14
votes
10 answers

How to say "handwaving" in Russian?

If someone gives a derivation of a formula in math, physics, etc. without justifying the steps, you can say in English that the person is giving a "handwaving argument" or "this step is handwaving". How is that idea expressed in…
KCd
  • 4,964
  • 21
  • 40
14
votes
3 answers

Difference between "использовать" and "пользоваться"

I know that the verb to use can be translated into Russian as использовать (with the accusative) or пользоваться (with the instrumental). I wanted to ask if there's a difference in meaning/usage between these two verbs or if they're perfectly…
Giorgio
  • 793
  • 8
  • 13
14
votes
4 answers

Does Проходите really mean come in?

In a dialogue from Langenscheidt's Praktisches Lehrbuch Russisch guests are greeted with "Проходите", translated as "Come in" ("Kommt herein"). Is that usual in contemporary Russian for telling someone to come in? Dictionaries seem to translate…
14
votes
5 answers

What is the difference between дыра and дырка?

What is the difference in usage, if any, between дыра and дырка? For comparison, my impression is that нуль and ноль are largely equivalent except that there are some standard phrases using one word but not the other, phone numbers with 0 use ноль,…
KCd
  • 4,964
  • 21
  • 40