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Ты не торопилась (+ infinitive ...)!

There were a couple of occasions where I wanted to say this to my girlfriend who has a habit of spending hours on end doing shopping.

This is the only phrasing I could come up with with my currently rather limited vocabulary, but I wonder if it doesn't somewhat fall short of the meaning conveyed by the English expression.

How do Russian speakers commonly express this idea?

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  • What do you mean by that? Do you want to say you were annoyed / worried / happy for her? Jun 10, 2018 at 11:49
  • @SergeySlepov Oh, in a sarcastic tone! Jun 10, 2018 at 11:50

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First thing comes to mind: "Тебя только за смертью посылать" -- "you're the (good) one to go fetch (our) death". But that's rather strong expression, although it might be used jokingly.

There are lots of "real" folklore expressions, too, but I doubt they get much use these days.

UPDATE: And if you aren't looking for a "real" idiom, these ones might work: "пять минут опозданием не считаются" (five minutes late doesn't count as late -- just ironic); "пять минут ждём и уходим" (we wait five minutes more, then leave -- students' joke, when the professor is late to the auditorium).

Also, "(он/она) не опаздывает, а задерживается!" -- ironic "clarification", referring to a supposed "chief person", meaning "you can't say he/she is late, he/she is really (just) delayed".

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  • Hi. Can it be used when someone didn't turn up on time? Jun 10, 2018 at 10:47
  • @Alone-zee, no, it's used when someone is sent to fetch something and it takes them longer than expected. When they come back, they might hear "Тебя только за смертью посылать." Jun 10, 2018 at 11:37
  • I wouldn't use this expression on a girlfriend, unless I'm really annoyed with her. Jun 10, 2018 at 11:43
  • @Sergey Slepov: depends on the tone and the face language and the quality of the relationship, too. But yes, that's a sharp idiom, use with caution.
    – yury10578
    Jun 10, 2018 at 13:43
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"Ты [делала что-либо] целую вечность!"

"Тебя не дождёшься!"

"Я заждался!" (this shifts focus from her to yourself, but it's not that illogical - after all, it's all about your perception of the time she spent, she may think that "да только на минуту, одним глазком заглянула!")

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In Russian the phrase would sound more complete with qualifiers such as не слишком/не больно/не особо/не особенно (example from a dictionary) and more idiomatic with adverbial participle instead of infinitive, for example

Ты не особо спешила/торопилась, перебирая платья

but it lacks the connotation of indulgence, and i'm not sure it in itself is still idiomatic enough, it still sounds kind of awkward, let alone the fact that adverbial participles are a rare bird in colloquial language.

What could fit the bill is the phrase

На шоппинг ты времени явно/уж точно/совсем не пожалела - You really didn't spare/ took all / haven't been frugal with your time doing/on shopping

It's an ad-hoc variant with a connotation of rebuke, rather a translation than a stable construction in Russian, but idiomatic and has a potential for pattern derivation.

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  • "to spare time" - "уделять время". "Ты не уделила времени..."? Jun 10, 2018 at 11:42
  • @Sergey Slepov to spare is also to save (up), isn't it? Jun 10, 2018 at 11:51

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