How do you say something like That's child's play!
or That's a piece of cake
in Russian?
4 Answers
Idiomatic variants, which can be used in both common speech and books, articles etc.:
You can say "Это проще пареной репы!", literally "It's easier, than steamed turnip!". Steamed turnip was a popular dish among Russian peasants, especially before introduction of potatoes into Russian cuisine.
"Это проще простого." - "It's easier than easy."
"Это просто, как дважды два!" - "It's easy, like two times two."
If you want to be short and avoid using idioms, you can say:
"Это элементарно" - "This is elementary". This is the simpliest, neutral and very common variant.
"Легкотня!" (derived from adverb "легкo", which in this case means "easily"). This variant is for informal use only.
Speaking about simplicity of actions (but not notions, concepts etc.) in informal cases you can use the following expressions:
"Раз плюнуть!", which means that performing this action is as easy as performing one spit. For example: "Я ни за что не подниму такую тяжелую коробку, но для моего мужа это - раз плюнуть. Он и три таких запросто донесет!" - "I would never lift such a heavy box, but for my husband, it's a piece of cake. He can easily carry three times as much!"
"Как нечего делать", literally "Like nothing to do". "Легкотня! Я за 5 минут управлюсь, как нечего делать." - "That's child's play! I'll be done by 5 minutes, no sweat."
-
4
-
1
-
3"как два пальца... " seems to be more often heard in conversations and mass media than idioms like "пареной репы" or "дважды два", but it's not appropriate in many circumstances.– PeterisCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 18:12
-
5@Peteris, I didn't include this variant, because it's obscene. It's neither heavily tabooed, nor offensive for people you are talking to, but is acceptable in informal cases only, and mostly among young people. It is used commonly, but avoid it when you are not sure that it's appropriate. The complete expression looks like "Это просто, как два пальца обоссать!" ("It's easy like to piss on two fingers!"). There is an euphemism "как два пальца об асфальт" ("like two fingers to asphalt", "об асфальт" and "обоссать" sound similar).– LaraCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 19:06
-
5
Запросто,нет проблем,ничего не стоит,проще не бывает,играючи,без вопросов,легохонько,лёгко
And I am sure there are more...
also there is optional : запросто без бэ без базара нет проблем / не проблема / без проблем ваще легко легко сказано сделано как два пальца изи / изи пизи
-
2Желательно все-таки как-то разделять выражения - спрашивающий плохо владеет русским языком и не сможет отделить одно выражение от другого. Ну это, конечно, если действительно хотите помочь.– ArtemixCommented Feb 29, 2016 at 13:39