Questions tagged [сленг]

Questions about special language used by a particular group as well as about an informal nonstandard vocabulary composed of invented words, changed words, and exaggerated or humorous figures of speech.

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-2 votes
1 answer
141 views

What does с каре mean? [closed]

I have encountered девочка с каре in a song and девушка с каре in comments on social media. I have absolutely no idea what с каре means. Clarification would be highly appreciated.
10 votes
1 answer
9k views

Analog of IT term “костыль” in English [closed]

I am not sure if this is a proper place to post this question, but I was unable to find any better. In software development, we tend to use the Russian word “костыль” (crutch) to denote a solution ...
2 votes
2 answers
238 views

What's the Russian equivalent of "This song slaps!"?

What would be Russian slang equivalent of "This song slaps!" in the sense that it's excellent, really cool, fire? The word "slap" for us native English speakers brings to mind the ...
13 votes
5 answers
130k views

What do ")" or multiple ")))" mean in an internet conversation?

I sometimes see Russian people add some ) to the end of sentences, and sometimes even many of them: )))). I recently read: In Russian: ))))))) is a loud laugh So I wonder what it means when there's ...
4 votes
2 answers
373 views

"биточки ваще кайф"

Someone commented on a song I put on the internet with the Russian phrase биточки ваще кайф, which to me looks like she's telling me that at this point in the (may I point out, instrumental) track ...
1 vote
3 answers
1k views

Russian equivalents of some English idioms

I don't speak or read Russian myself, but I'm trying to find some genuine and natural-sounding Russian equivalents of a couple of English phrases. The first is "keep your shirt on," a ...
0 votes
1 answer
161 views

What is the meaning of соплежуйство?

I understand that соплежуйство is a compound noun literally meaning chewing on snots, but what is the figurative meaning of this word in Russian?
0 votes
1 answer
112 views

What does "ну-ка" means? [closed]

I've seen this a lot in a comedy series that I'm watching. For example in a situation when the boss yell at some unknown guys to get out of the house he says: "Ну-ка, пошли вон отсюда!"
0 votes
7 answers
5k views

Is there a Russian expression used when both sides know they are lying?

I just heard someone talking about Putin propaganda techniques on BBC Radio 4 this morning... And he mentioned an expression in a situation where "both sides know they are lying"... but they persist ...
5 votes
1 answer
223 views

what does спалила mean in this sentence?

excerpt from a song: "Ты спалила наверняка как он смотрит издалека". the direct translation of спалила or спали́ть is "to burn", however it does not make sense in this sentence. ...
3 votes
3 answers
270 views

Russian slang: "the letter Х"

Someone told me that in Russian slang, people ask each other: Kак дела? (How are you?), to which the obvious answer is Хорошо (Good). But there's another word that starts with "x" and means ...
15 votes
5 answers
18k views

What does "короче" mean?

My tandem-partner says короче. I asked her to tell me the meaning, but she refused to teach me 'bad Russian' (I don't know if she was kidding, though). I've seen короче in Lingvo but that source ...
2 votes
2 answers
288 views

Need help with Russian interjections, figures of speech

I'm trying to find Russian equivalents for the following interjections/expressions: "Don't!" (when we very much don't want someone to do something) "No!" (to express dismay) "...
3 votes
5 answers
849 views

Is there a shorter or more colloquial word for "pet"?

The Russian translation for "pet" is домашнее животное, in this case meaning a domesticated animal one keeps in one's home. To a native English-speaker that seems like quite a bookish term. ...
1 vote
3 answers
330 views

Сорьян = sorry?

I was recently working at a Russian startup with a low median age - most of the employees were under 30. I cannot count the number of times I heard folks saying "сорьян" to each other, but ...
1 vote
3 answers
641 views

What is the meaning of this Russian profanity?

I am a new learner in the Russian language, and I don't know the rules of this exchange. But recently I came across this saying (I am sorry in advance for the phrase): "ёпта мохнатка": Яже ...
2 votes
2 answers
425 views

Как перевести на русский слово "prepster"?

Слово образовано из слияния preppy + hipster. Словарь дает такое определение: "культурный маргинал, сочетающий консервативное и либеральное". Preppy = старомодный, hipster = неформал (...
23 votes
6 answers
9k views

Why do Russians call a joke a stake (прикол)?

In modern Russian, прикол is a very frequently used word and means a joke, a funny incident, or just anything funny, but the original meaning of this word is very different: a stake to which a ship, a ...
10 votes
4 answers
457 views

Comprehensibility of "Sub-Standard" Speech?

I suspect that this question may be both too specific and too vague for this forum, but here goes... I recently tried to watch the film "Жила-была одна баба" (2011) -- I'm not sure I'd recommend it ...
-1 votes
1 answer
175 views

Kaliningrad ... may it be referred to as Kalinograd?

Kaliningrad is the Russian exclave sandwiched in between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic coast. Every time I think of it I find myself saying "Kalinograd" because in English usage ...
3 votes
4 answers
337 views

What is the origin of the suffix -он?

I learned that the Russian language has a number of words with the suffix -он: музон, закидон, выпивон, закусон, расслабон, etc. This suffix is indeed not a part of the root, as can be seen from words ...
7 votes
5 answers
6k views

Meaning of чё - что or чего?

This question was born from the discussion in comments under this answer. Чё is a slang/colloquial word, but does it mean что or чего? I believe that it's the equivalent of что, although it can't be ...
4 votes
6 answers
390 views

Can you use the word "муть" in a conversation, or is it a profane word?

I took it from a popular song: Для меня ты ангел божий / Без тебя такая муть but it seems (from the reaction I got) that this particular word is considered to be slang / a swear word not to be ...
6 votes
6 answers
2k views

What is ништяк?

Ништяк is a Russian slang term meaning cool, it's very good. According to this article, it can also mean: tasty (mostly sweet) food; cookie food that has been thrown away but is going to be eaten ...
3 votes
3 answers
858 views

Как перевести "beat that"?

Как перевести на русский разговорное восклицание "beat that!" Это сокращение от "Can you beat that?" Выражение может быть использовано в процессе игры или неформального ...
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

What is the meaning of "по хулиганке"?

What does "По хулиганке" mean? I cannot find a sensible translation. It is the title of a song of the group 'Iron Bees'.
5 votes
2 answers
257 views

How old and widespread is the word "холодос"?

Today a reddit user claimed that "холодос" (I guess the last "o" is stressed) is a slang name for a refrigerator in Russian, and I'm like - no way, never in my life I've heard this before. However ...
2 votes
2 answers
826 views

Diminutive for Child/Grandchild/Young Person

I do not speak Russian, however I am trying to write a few lines of convincing (romanized) dialog between two Russian characters. I'm searching for a diminutive or informal word an elderly woman might ...
2 votes
1 answer
175 views

How to translate чё вытворяет? [closed]

Would a good (American) English equivalent of "Чё вытворяет?" be "What is he up to?" or "What's up with him?" What's the connotation, exactly?
6 votes
3 answers
2k views

"Working on a knee"

There's a one word russian slang for a design philosophy that translates as " working with a piece of paper on your knee". I remember it loosely as ' nakayanki '. Can someone enlighten?
6 votes
5 answers
808 views

Is "с днём рождения, старый пердун" acceptable?

I would like to congratulate someone I know well for his 50th birthday. Would the following be considered good, ok, bad or very bad? С днем рождения, старый пердун!
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

"Horseradish, why are you fucking?"

I'm trying to understand part of Путешествие шлюпа «Диана» из Кронштадта в Камчатку, совершенное в 1807, 1808 и 1809 годах. The author Golovnin names a Kamchadal song «Ай, вот тебе хрену, ай вот тебе ...
2 votes
4 answers
1k views

What do these mean: pupushik and pupushonok?

A man used the first and a woman used the second, to each other. What exactly do they mean? Are they naughty terms of endearment or harmless, cute ones? :-) Context: Armenian man and Ukrainian woman ...
10 votes
1 answer
412 views

Meaning of "кагбе пыщъ"?

What does this mean? "короче кагбе пыщъ" As I asked a remote developer about delivery of my app project. Never heard anything more from him. Hope it is not a deadly decease.
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Delovaya kolbasa

What does "delovaya kolbasa" mean in Russian?
2 votes
2 answers
3k views

'Clean bandit' (чистый бандитка) - would a normal Russian speaker understand this to mean 'total rascal'?

The British music group Clean Bandit take their name from the Russian 'чистый бандитка'. Grace Chatto, one of the band's members, says that a Russian lady used it to mean 'total rascal'. She mentions ...
8 votes
4 answers
2k views

Have your cake and eat it too - Equivalent Expression in Russian

Wikipedia claims that the expression И рыбку съесть, и в воду не лезть is equivalent to "having your cake and eating it too", literally translated to wanting to eat a fish without first catching it ...
13 votes
5 answers
474 views

Proper usage of "бедолага"?

The closest thing I could find out is that this means something like "poor thing", used when you are taking some sort of pity on someone. Is this correct? Also, what does the word actually translate ...
4 votes
2 answers
644 views

"Норм чувак" meaning

I had known "чувак," but recently ran into "норм чувак" and was a bit lost, and neither Multitran nor russki-mat.net helped. It sounds to me like some kind of stoner cri-du-coeur. Could someone ...
14 votes
7 answers
3k views

How to sarcastically say "good job"

I took Russian in university and can talk a little. A few days ago my Russian friend lost his keys and I wanted to sarcastically say "nice job" in Russian, but I didn't really know what was the proper ...
6 votes
2 answers
366 views

What does прокачать mean

I looked for it in dictionaries, but it doesn't seem to be a standard verb, except in a few cases where it means to run someones name through the police systems. Perhaps it's slang? очень хочу ...
14 votes
5 answers
8k views

What does "Ой всё" mean?

What does "Ой всё" mean? My Russian friends use it a lot.
14 votes
3 answers
985 views

What nuances does the term "тугрик" have?

When not referring to the actual Mongolian currency, what nuances does the term "тугрик" have, if any? For example, does it imply that the currency is weak?
7 votes
2 answers
356 views

Can someone explain "ой мой скотч"?

I've seen this used on the web as a translation for "oh my God" . Even though, as far as I know, there is a more literal translation (боже мой) which seems also to be in common use So ... what's the ...
4 votes
2 answers
358 views

Что значит "Че ты паришься"?

Привет всем, What does "Че ты паришься" mean? The only information I found on it was from http://www.lexiophiles.com/english/10-words-everybody-needs-to-know-before-going-to-russia-part-2 which says ...
10 votes
5 answers
3k views

Use of "Kamchatka" to represent any poor, faraway place

In Russia, the place name "Kamchatka" at some point became a generalized means of referring to faraway, underresourced, or undesirable places (according to a couple of sources, this includes the far ...
7 votes
4 answers
3k views

Mixing business with pleasure

Is it the same as "приятное с полезным"?
3 votes
1 answer
424 views

Differences between Чей/Чья and Кого

If you want to make a question related to possession, when is it preferable to use Чей/Чья ...? and when is it better to use Кого...? ? Are both options grammatically correct? Thank you!
4 votes
2 answers
435 views

К какой части речи относится слово "го" из молодёжного сленга?

Например, во фразе "Го в Доту, я создал".
2 votes
3 answers
428 views

What are some words that can translate "butterface" into Russian?

According to the UrbanDictionary website, butterface/butter face is an American slang for: A girl who is hot, except for her (but her, butter) face. Can you think of any common slang or playful ...