Questions tagged [slang]

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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3 answers
895 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 ...
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0 votes
1 answer
125 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?
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0 votes
1 answer
73 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!"
5 votes
1 answer
195 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
227 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 ...
2 votes
2 answers
269 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) "...
0 votes
3 answers
300 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 ...
3 votes
5 answers
759 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. ...
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1 vote
3 answers
493 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
359 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 (...
-1 votes
1 answer
171 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 ...
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
244 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 ...
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2 votes
2 answers
617 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 ...
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 ...
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2 votes
1 answer
173 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?
3 votes
4 answers
328 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 ...
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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?
4 votes
6 answers
383 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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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10 votes
1 answer
395 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.
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2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Delovaya kolbasa

What does "delovaya kolbasa" mean in Russian?
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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 ...
4 votes
2 answers
623 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 ...
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14 votes
3 answers
973 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?
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10 votes
1 answer
8k 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. There in software development, we tend to use Russian word “костыль” (crutch) to denote the ...
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
338 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 ...
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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 ...
3 votes
1 answer
407 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
429 views

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

Например, во фразе "Го в Доту, я создал".
6 votes
5 answers
794 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!
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12 votes
5 answers
116k 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 does it mean when ...
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2 votes
3 answers
396 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 ...
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3 votes
1 answer
320 views

What are the different forms of "косарь"?

In Russian "косарь" means a thousand. But what are the different forms and cases of "косарь"? For example, can you say "Это двухкосарёвый вопрос на Stack Exchange русского языка"? What are the dative ...
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14 votes
5 answers
8k views

What does "Ой всё" mean?

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

Origin of "не фартануло"

There's a saying "не фартануло" which means something like "не повезло" or "не получилось". However, where does it come from? There don't seem to be any related words that come to mind, and there ...
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4 votes
4 answers
3k views

Can you provide translation to this Russian profanity?

I am familiar with the word заебать [zə(j)ɪˈbatʲ], but I do not understand where does the word как come in picture. This surely doesn't change the meaning of the sentence, but a little explanation ...
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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 ...
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1 vote
2 answers
314 views

Does one use (still) / did one really used once гангрена (проклятая)! as curse word, as it appears in Двенадцать стульев?

If I'm not mistaken some character in Ilf-Petrov's wonderful novel Двенадцать стульев wants to damn something. I don't quite remember the situation, but he says – гангрена (проклятая)! Is any of ...
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3 votes
1 answer
367 views

How to say an informal "кроме того"?

An acquaintance told me that when I say кроме того she think she's hearing the news. Is there an alternative other than сверх того? Or is the latter cool enough? I suppose not.
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3 votes
3 answers
456 views

Best translation to russian: "hey, doodz!"

Как перевести на русский сленговый возглас: hey, doodz! Желательно, чтобы перевод максимально сохранил не только собственно само значение, но также и искаженное написание, ну типа: эй, пацаки! ...
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3 votes
3 answers
835 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 ...
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2 votes
2 answers
220 views

"(Не) в теме" for people who fall outside a group

I saw a picture on Facebook of a couple of people that were dressed in special suits. One person was dressed in normal clothes. A non-native speaker of Russian commented: [Наташа], ты не в теме! He ...
6 votes
4 answers
292 views

Бывай! still used?

Is the word Бывай! still used in contemporary Russian as a way of saying 'goodbye'?
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8 votes
4 answers
2k views

What does "с др кароч" mean?

I realize that кароч is related to the answers given to What does “короче” mean?, but what about с др кароч? I've seen it in the title of Youtube videos where people talk for a short time, and on "...
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13 votes
5 answers
464 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 ...
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