Questions about the meaning of words or phrases that you couldn't find in a dictionary.
7
votes
3answers
118 views
What does “Я дежурный по апрелю” mean?
Here is a song by Bulat Okudzhava "Дежурный по апрелю":
Ах, какие удивительные ночи,
только мама моя в грусти и тревоге:
"Что же ты гуляешь, мой сыночек,
одинокий, одинокий?
Что же ты ...
2
votes
3answers
328 views
How should I interpret the word наверное?
When I look up the word наверное I always see two definitions:
Probably, most likely
Certainly, for sure
These two definitions mean completely different things to me but I don't know how to ...
1
vote
1answer
193 views
What does mean “математик в законе”?
I encountered a description of a person as "математик в законе". Does it mean he is a criminal?
1
vote
0answers
40 views
How do you understend “да нет наверно”? [duplicate]
How to understend "да нет наверно" like an unswer ?
Будешь чай ?
Да нет наверно....
3
votes
1answer
62 views
Abbreviations in Bus Schedules
I found the following two expressions in a bus schedule:
Время отправления с НП
Время прибытия на КП
I understand that the first means time of departure and the second time of arrival. But ...
3
votes
3answers
106 views
Possible meanings of “Путь ему туда заказан”
Is it like this phrase can have two almost opposite meanings in Russian (one of which would be something like "The way to that place for him has already been ordered/provided/arranged", and the other ...
2
votes
1answer
84 views
What's the right spelling of (something I hear, but cannot find, as) “часно слово”?
I often hear in Russian an expression that I suppose can be translated as "I swear it", or "I give you my word". I hear something as "часно слово", "час на слово" ?
What is its right spelling and ...
3
votes
2answers
192 views
What does “кося” in phrase “накося выкуси” exactly mean
These days I'm reading a book "История моего современника" by V. G. Korolenko (don't feel guilty for reading it online, you are not breaching any copyright laws in this case, since the author is ...
2
votes
2answers
101 views
Difference between аренда and бронирование
I am writing a database for room rent. How should I call it - аренда помещений or бронирование помещений? What is the main difference between those two words? I have always thought that it means the ...
3
votes
2answers
140 views
When and how has the word широковещательный obtained its negative connotations?
I've stumbled upon this word in Andrey Bely's (Bugaev's) Символизм как миропонимание (СПб 1994). Even in the early 20th century the word was used negatively referring to 'широковещательность ...
0
votes
5answers
225 views
What does “оттяжка” mean here?
In Remizov's (1877-1957) novel "Пруд" (The Pond), there are two passages with this word which is obscure for me. E.g.
— Колечка, — вдруг услышал он такой знакомый голос с ласкающей оттяжкой, это ...
1
vote
0answers
92 views
1
vote
2answers
170 views
Значение слова “устряпаться”
Знает ли кто-нибудь слово устряпаться? Я недавно слышала его в контексте, из которого понятно, что оно значит что-то вроде испачкаться, но может быть я и ошибаюсь. И заодно интересно узнать, какое у ...
1
vote
0answers
33 views
How can I begin to learn the Russian language? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Resources for learning Russian
I am interested in learning the Russian language. Where I live, there isn't any institution that teaches the Russian language (that's a ...
7
votes
3answers
178 views
When are diminutive forms of time words (e.g., часик, неделька, годик) used?
I was searching the Russian National Corpus recently and in the results I noticed that nouns referring to duration in time are sometimes marked with a diminutive suffix, as in the following examples:
...
2
votes
3answers
243 views
What's the difference between “Люблю идти по дороге” and “Люблю проходить по дороге”?
Is there any difference in meaning between "Люблю идти по дороге" and "Люблю проходить по дороге"?
7
votes
7answers
371 views
Difference between “стужа” and “мороз”
Is there a difference between these two words or are they synonyms? I understand that both words describe weather conditions, that are colder, than just "холод". It does seem to me that "стужа" sounds ...
18
votes
9answers
1k views
The meaning of “давай” when saying good bye
I was always wondering: When at the end of the phone or other conversation people say "ну давай" meaning "see you later". Where does this come from?
In terms of meaning, I always understood it to ...
6
votes
5answers
676 views
Can “чита” mean “monkey”?
A Russian friend of mine claims that the word "чита" can mean "small monkey". She thinks that it might be a colloquialism, but she cannot recall its etymology. I believe she has been using it since ...
18
votes
4answers
4k views
Why does “охуенно” mean “great” but “хуёвый” mean “bad”
I came across some words chatting with my friend (he's a native speaker). What's the difference between пиздато, охуенно, хуёво and пиздец? The first two words have a positive meaning but хуёво and ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
What does “акция” mean in this sentence?
I am aware of two meanings of the word “акция”. It may mean
a stock (a financial instrument), or
a political, diplomatic or military act.
When I was in Moscow a few months ago, I saw ads that ...
1
vote
1answer
396 views
What is the root meaning of the name 'Samovojska'?
I have seem alternative spellings of this name listed as
Samovojska
Samovojsky
Samovosky
Samosky
Is this a Rus surname?
What is the origin or root meaning of this surname?
3
votes
4answers
3k views
The meaning of “криворукий”
I am having a hard time trying to get the exact meaning of "криворукий" because the online dictionaries that I tried refuse to translate it. Does it have anything to do with "косорукий"?
The original ...
8
votes
5answers
3k views
On the meanings of the colors in Russian
It is sometimes the case that one attributes a second meaning to the colors, in poetry or just slang. It might be that this association is language-dependent (perhaps an exception is a connotation of ...
5
votes
9answers
7k views
Чем отличается “сырой” от “мокрый”?
Кажется, что это совершенно взаимозаменяемые слова. Однако, очевидно, они имеют разные корни и, видимо, разные оттенки значений. Может быть, они передают разную степень влажности предмета? Или о вещи ...
15
votes
9answers
4k views
What does “ледяная рябь канала” mean, in Blok's famous poem?
I'm very fond of A. Blok's poem bellow -- which, by the way, yesterday became 100 years old. My Russian is very limited, and this is
one of the little pieces I can almost understand;
this "almost" ...
4
votes
5answers
1k views
What does it mean - “подняться на крыло”
Here is a quote from today news:
"На прошлой неделе выпал первый снег, и серые журавли, обитающие на
Белом озере, сразу поднялись на крыло и улетели", - рассказал
представитель регионального ...
6
votes
3answers
2k views
котов and Петров
This is a follow up to this question.
Here is a Daniil Kharms short story:
ПЕТРОВ И КАМАРОВ
ПЕТРОВ:
Эй, Камаров!
Давай ловить комаров!
КАМАРОВ:
Нет, я к этому еще не готов.
...
2
votes
1answer
151 views
Конструкция типа “по имяреку”, подразумевающая косвенную цитату
Как правило, если в литературе встречается цитата, то при упоминании автора употребляется его имя. А что означают подписи, оформленные по образцу "По гражданину N."? Может ли быть, например, что ...
6
votes
3answers
439 views
Why is “взять”/“брать” used to mean “купить”/“покупать”?
I encounter this very often - брать or взять (take, grab) is used to actually mean купить or покупать (buy), for example А твой ноутбук за сколько брали? when the intended meaning is А твой ноутбук за ...
7
votes
3answers
646 views
What does “терпячка” mean?
What does "терпячка" mean? I know that it's connected to suffering and bearing.
But I need exact meaning, the possibility to say what can be called this word and what can not.
2
votes
3answers
658 views
Трудоёмкий and времяёмкий
The word трудный is translated like difficult.
The word трудоёмкий is translated like time-consuming, but actually, speaking of time resources, there is another word in Russian, времяёмкий. Though ...
3
votes
2answers
630 views
Do these surnames imply anything?
I'm reading Kharms (again). And a friend of mine warned me that some of the names Kharms uses may actually have some meaning that are lost in translation (like in the example of Mr. Joker, Ms. Cow, ...
6
votes
7answers
2k views
“Horse has gypsy in its teeth” - what does it exactly mean?
In the Neil Cornwell translation of Daniil Kharms' story "Clunk" I see the following sentence:
The picture is a drawing of a horse, the horse has gypsy in its teeth.
That sounds like a very ...
6
votes
5answers
690 views
Как назвать искреннего ханжу?
Определение ханжи таково:
Тот, кто притворно набожен, добродетелен; лицемер.
А как назвать человека, который непритворно, а искренне набожен, добродетелен? Он лезет ко всем с нравоучениями, ...
2
votes
2answers
666 views
пилигримка - meaning?
While Russian is my first language, I've left Russia more than twenty years ago, and, at moments, I feel that I do not understand the modern usage of some words. For instance, I've only recently ...
3
votes
4answers
312 views
what do people mean by saying сложно переоценить это?
It is not quite clear what people mean by saying сложно переоценить. Can anyone explain?
The literal translation would be hard to overestimate, which doesn't make sense.
3
votes
3answers
370 views
What does the phrase пойти в разведку mean?
I assume that in casual usage, it doesn't really mean to serve in an intelligence agency, or to reconnoiter an enemy position, right?
7
votes
5answers
4k views
The history and meaning of “ни фига себе”
I understand how the expression is used pretty well, but wonder where did it come from?
What exactly does фиг mean?
