Word of the day
смотреть/посмотреть
smotrét’/posmotrét’
to look, to see, to watch, to peek, to inspect, to check out
Example sentences:
Я посмотрел фильм о необычных существах из космоса.
I’ve seen a film about strange creatures from outer space.
Посмотри на это, это поразительно!
Look at that, that’s amazing!
Вы оптимистично смотрите в будущее?
Are you optimistic about the future?
Шоколадная картошка
You probably know that chocolate is шоколад in Russian and that potato is картошка. So what if you wanted to say ‘chocolate potato’? In English you simply put the two nouns together in a row. In Russian you can’t normally put two nouns together like that and have the first one modify the second. Instead you have to put the first one into adjective form. The adjective from шоколад is шоколадный, so chocolate potato comes out шоколадная картошка.
Now if you are an American, you are probably asking yourself, “Why the heck would I want to say ‘chocolate potato’ in English, much less in Russian?” Oh, my poor ignorant American friend. You need to go to Russia and try the pastry they call шоколадная картошка. You will think you have died and gone to heaven. I encountered my first ones the other day. It was in a little convenience store.
“Are those chocolate?” I asked.
“They are mumble mumble potato mumble,” she replied.
Potato, huh? They kind of look like yeti testicles covered in brown bread crumbs, but what the hell, I’ll give ‘em a try.
Home. I chomp. OMG! These are a chocolate potato candy! I swoon, I can’t stop salivating.
It turns out that they have no potato in them at all, so in fact they are not chocolate potato candy. They are just deliriously delicious pastries.
Original post blogged on b2evolution.
from Russian Word of the Day http://bit.ly/NPhUMK
Хрень: Lower that horseradish!
My language partner and I went to see «Президент Линкольн: охотник на вампиров» together, and when we sat down I thought he said to me, «Спусти этот хрен», which literally means “Lower that horseradish.” I was confused. I had misheard him. He actually said, «Спусти эту хрень» “Lower that thingamabob,” by which he meant the armrest between the seats. Here’s how the word declines.
The word is what we might call substandard speech. It’s very conversational, not suitable for academic reading. It’s probably also a euphemism for the vulgar meaning of хрен. But the version with the soft sign you can use in front of your mom and grandma without them getting too upset. Take a look at the entry on the phrase «вот это самое» for a synonym. Here are some examples.
The word is also used to mean a useless thing or junk or worthless comment.
Original post blogged on b2evolution.
from Russian Word of the Day http://bit.ly/Mm8Svg
