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I need help with the meaning of the idiom "компостировать мозги" the full sentence being "прекрати компостировать мозги".

What is the English version of this

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There's a very rude phrase "ебать [кому-либо] мозги" (to fuck [someone's] brain) - it means to be extremely annoying, to talk bullshit etc. "Компостировать мозги" is basically an euphemistic version of this phrase.

The verb "компостировать" means, among other things "to compost" (a ticket), in Soviet Union paper tickets for public transportation were composted with devices like this (though this one is a newer device, not the original Soviet one):

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So, basically, it was an act of perforation.

However another meaning of "компостировать" is to fertilize with manure or some kind of other organic matter. There's a version that this is the original meaning but personally I find this explanation less convenient.

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    I don't agree that компостировать мозги is euphemistic of ебать мозги. As your wiki link suggests, компостировать can also mean to brainwash, whereas ебать мозги you wouldn't use in that meaning. Компостировать also means to be annoying, but much much less annoying than ебать мозги, and they both can be used in the meaning "to lie", so I agree in these two meanings they overlap. Anyway, I also think you should highlight it directly in your answer, as for now it is still not very clear for a non-Russian speaker what this phrase means.
    – Darya Shcherbakova
    May 16, 2019 at 18:15
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Actually I don't remember when I heard this phrase last time so you can relate it to not common - it means that someone is very persistent with you in the way that you don't appreciate it and try to avoid interaction / conversation but the one is still intrusive. And except when a person is trying to get your "yes" for something it can just mean - stop telling me this bullshit.

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As already have been explained it's the softer version of "ебать мозг(и)", though not necessarily a euphemism. Another way to put it is simply "делать мозги" or "окучивать могзги" (which is definitely a euphemism).

I have never heard it being used in regards to lying or bullshitting someone, but always in voicing annoyance.

Closest colloquial English equivalent I can think of is simply "to get on one's nerves". There's another Russian expression - "действовать на нервы", which is a closer translation. In some cases you can use "do one's head in" as in "She's really doing my head in.", but that's not always a good translation, as it can refer to general confusion, feeling lost, almost depressed, while "комостировать мозги" simply infers some mild annoyance. It's less dramatic.

The difference is that "комостировать/делать/ебать могз(и)" is used when someone repeatedly, almost methodically annoys you (verbally, in writing, or both) regarding some specific topic or endeavor, while "действовать на нервы" is far more broad.

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    +1 For careful use of "filthy language uphemisms". Otherwise we'll end wiith "хорошо это всего лишь стыдливый эвфемизм для пиздато, а плохо соответственно завуалированное хуево".
    – seven-phases-max
    May 17, 2019 at 8:41
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    Even though AR. didn't hear this phrase used in other meanings, some research could be useful in order to also highlight these meanings and make the answer more extensive and less biased to an opinion. I certainly heard "компостировать мозги" in the both meanings of bullshitting/brainwashing and lying.
    – Darya Shcherbakova
    May 17, 2019 at 15:52

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