45
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Why is the Turkish president's surname spelt in Russian as Эрдоган, with г?
Russian has different transcription systems for different languages.
Some of them (Japanese, Korean, Chinese) have been developed by a single person or by a group of scholars, who had invested some ...
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42
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How should I understand and translate "закатить истерику"?
I think your translation, a bout of hysteria, is more about an uncontrollable physiological process, whereas the verb закатить speaks to the girl’s motives. So maybe ‘throw a tantrum’ would be better ...
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37
votes
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What is most common word for "car" in Russian?
The word most common in speech is машина.
Автомобиль is the "right word", but it's long and unpopular. Авто (unlike, say, its German counterpart) is not a "real word" on its own, but rather a spoken ...
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33
votes
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Is there a Russian equivalent of "red flag"?
The closest match I can think of is "тревожный звонок" / "тревожный звоночек" (more popular form), like in:
Если твой парень никогда не приводит тебя в свой дом - это тревожный ...
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30
votes
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Russian equivalent of the idiom "crown jewel"
It almost complete equivalent, it's жемчужина, like in жемчужина коллекции. Here's an example of real-life usage:
Один из коллекционеров марок в Красноярске выставил на продажу
жемчужину своей ...
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27
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What does "Бошетунмай" mean?
OK, I've waited long enough and since nobody's answering, I'll do it myself.
If a native speaker with no knowledge of the song hears "Бошетунмай", it won't mean anything to him. As for ...
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27
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What is the meaning of: "- Отнеси кота на веранду. - Да уж лежит там."
First of all, you translation is correct and I would not fail you for that.
That said, да уж лежит там is a peculiar, if grammatically correct, to put "it's already lying there" in Russian. ...
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26
votes
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What is the closest equivalent to "Armchair <profession>"?
There is an expression "диванный эксперт" ("the sofa expert"), I think it is almost the same. It could be applied to any profession. Also, there is another one expression - "диванные войска" ("the ...
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26
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Why is Tolkien’s “pipe-weed” translated as “трубочное зелье”?
The word зелье comes from Proto-Slavic *zelьje "grass, vegetation" which kept its meaning in many Slavic languages, including Church Slavonic.
It shares the root with the word зелёный "...
- 51.6k
26
votes
How do I ask "Really?" in Russian?
There are many phrases that can be used in a situation like this. Some of them include:
Правда? or Чё, правда? (Mostly used if you indeed question the truthfulness of what you've heard; the latter is ...
- 1,440
25
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What is this Russian word which means "just a sec"?
Most common variants are "сейчас" (which colloquially is pronounced "сщас" or "щас"), "[одну] секунду / секундочку", "[одну] минуту / минуточку" and &...
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23
votes
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Meaning of the word Сафир(ъ) in this passage?
САФИР Мориц Готлиб (Moritz
Gottlieb Saphir, 1795-1858) - немецкий юморист и журналист.
…
Впервые обратил на себя внимание сборником стихов «Poetische Erstlinge» (1821). Издавал театральные и ...
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23
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Does «Энергия-Буран» mean "Energy Blizzard"?
No, translation "Energy Blizzard" is incorrect. It assumes that the meaning is compound, where the first noun plays a role of adjective (i.e. blizzard made of energy).
But for this to be correct, in ...
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22
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How to say something is easy?
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 ...
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22
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Почему в русском языке японские названия переведены с 'си' там, где в японском 'ши' или 'щи'
Вы же понимаете, что собственные имена не переводят, их либо транскрибируют, либо транслитерируют. В случае японского языка речь идёт как раз о транслитерации, а именно, транслитерации русскими ...
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20
votes
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Do Russians really use "Расход!" to say, "Let's go!"?
The character is saying расход! indeed, which is supposed to mean "scatter!", as a command.
This is not a mainstream word, but its meaning is obvious to a Russian speaker.
Russian sports and ...
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19
votes
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For all I care - in Russian
"По мне, так" fits your requirements nicely. It's informal and passive-aggressive:
По мне, так можешь вообще не беречь голову.
По мне, так можешь вообще не вставать сегодня.
По мне, так можешь ...
19
votes
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What does "Ой всё" mean?
"Ой, все" - it is a very informal way to stop discussion. It is mostly used by women as a final argument in a dispute.
Women always want to say the "last word" in any dispute but if they feel they ...
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19
votes
The Russian equivalent of 'meeting', as in team meeting
A short everyday meeting to discuss some pressing matters in a face-to-face talk would be планёрка.
A more serious meeting, like the one to define a middle-term strategy, would be совещание.
A ...
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18
votes
How would you translate "I'm rusty" (in relation to a skill) to Russian?
Забыл (or позабыл) is perfectly OK when you are talking about "really rusty". "A little rusty" would be подзабыл.
Я совсем позабыл, как играть в шахматы // I'm really rusty at ...
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18
votes
Why is the Turkish president's surname spelt in Russian as Эрдоган, with г?
There are formal rules for practical transcription of Turkic proper names into Russian:
Турецко-русская практическая транскрипция
According to that table, ğ is transcribed as г and in rare cases as ...
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18
votes
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How can I say in Russian "I am not afraid to write anything"?
To eliminate the awkwardness of such double negations a safer approach is to (steer away from English patterns and) use сложноподчиненное предложение, e.g.:
Нет ничего, о чём я побоялась бы написать.
...
- 3,012
18
votes
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What does "калмыжка" mean in this context?
According to this source :
Калмыжка. Слово имеет разные звуковые формы в зависимости от говора:
калмыжка, калмышка, колмыжка, колмышка. Диалектное колмышка происходит
от комлыжка посредством ...
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18
votes
What is this Russian word which means "just a sec"?
You're probably looking for щас which is just a lenient rendition of сейчас.
It's the same as saying "wassup" instead of "what's up" or "ain't" instead of "am not&...
- 51.6k
17
votes
What does "Ой всё" mean?
This expression means something along the lines of "I'm done", meaning that someone is not willing to continue an argument. Quite often it implies that a person saying "Oй все" lost an argument. The ...
- 1,542
16
votes
Accepted
How to say that you have a blog in Russian?
У меня есть блог appears to be the most exact translation. Я веду блог is also an option. The latter variant is even closer to English I have... clause and it sounds natural to Russian, unlike literal ...
- 390
16
votes
What is the meaning of: "- Отнеси кота на веранду. - Да уж лежит там."
Quassnoi suggested in his answer that the key might be the homonym "уж", which can mean "already" and "grass snake," and this possibility made me so pissed off that I got ...
- 11.3k
15
votes
"Go set a watchman" ("Пойди, поставь сторожа") by Harper Lee
Это фраза из Библии, Исаия 21:6.
Синодальный перевод:
Ибо так сказал мне Господь: пойди, поставь сторожа; пусть он сказывает, что увидит.
В церковнославянском варианте — «шед постави себе стража».
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15
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How to translate 'My brain is fried?'
I'd say "У меня мозги кипят" (i.e. "my brain is boiling"). This could also refer to an external factor such as extreme heat, but usually means "I'm stuck", "I'm ...
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