Posts tagged with "proverbs"

Russian Proverbs and Sayings

Posted by Natalie 6 Comments
Dec 1 2010

This picture is distantly related to the post: since I’m going to be talking about a certain part of the Russian language, what better representative of the Russian language than that great writer «Александр Сергеевич Пушкин» [Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin]? This photo is of «памятник Пушкину в Санкт-Петербурге» [the monument to Pushkin in Saint Petersburg], from here.

«Дорогие читатели!» [Dear readers!] Today we are going to talk about «русские пословицы и поговорки» [Russian proverbs and sayings].

Every language has its peculiar turns of the phrase and we cannot hope to know them all–there are many sayings in English that I have never heard–but Russian in particular seems to have some very true, very funny, and very strange proverbs. Today I am going to share some of my favorites, in no particular order.

«Терпи, казак, атаманом будешь.» [Put up with it, Cossak, you'll get to be the head of your tribe.] I encountered this bit of wisdom in a textbook for Russian language learners and liked it instantly. It taught me the verb «терпеть» [to suffer, endure, forbear]. The English equivalent would be No pain, no gain.

«Тише едешь — дальше будешь.» [The more quietly you go, the further you'll get.] I also learned this proverb from the aforementioned textbook. I liked it so much that I had it on my door last year at university («конечно, на русском» [of course, in Russian], much to my roommates’ consternation). The English equivalent would be Haste makes waste or Slow and steady wins the race.

«Волков бояться — в лес не ходить.» [If you're afraid of wolves, don't go in the woods.] I don’t remember where I first heard this, to be honest. The English version would be If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. But Nothing ventured, nothing gained could also work, no?

«В огороде бузина, а в Киеве дядька.» [There are elderberries in the kitchen garden, and your uncle in Kiev.] This is perhaps my favorite Russian saying, probably because there is a funny story behind it. While reading the book Translating History (written by «Игорь Корчилов» [Igor Korchilov] a simultaneous interpreter for Gorbachev), I found out that this very saying caused a diplomatic scandal. Apparently, a Soviet delegate used this saying at an international conference and the interpreter at this conference was unfamiliar with it, so he translated it into English as, “Something is rotten in the kingdom of Denmark.” The delegate from Denmark then became angry with the Soviets for a perceived slur against Denmark, then the Soviet delegate became angry in return. Luckily the entire thing was sorted out, but the interpreter almost lost his job over this poor translation. In English, this saying most nearly corresponds to comparing apples and oranges.

«Всё хорошо, что хорошо кончается.» [All's well that ends well.] This is perhaps the only Russian proverb in existence that translates so beautifully into English. It’s interesting that it exists in both languages, but you know what they say: great minds think alike, right?

«Доверяй, но проверяй.» [Trust, but verify.] How could I not include this one? After all, it was a favorite of the late Ronald Reagan, president of the United States during the end of the Cold War. The English equivalent is Better safe than sorry.

I hope you enjoyed this post. I have but barely touched upon the vast number of Russian proverbs and sayings out there, so feel free to add your own in the comments.

On the Seriousness of Russian Proverbs

Posted by josefina 11 Comments
Mar 31 2010

Do Russians take their «поговорки и пословицы» [pl. proverbs and sayings] seriously? I think so, but I’ll let you decide for yourselves – here’s the Russian proverb «тише едешь, дальше будешь» [lit. ‘the slower you go, the farther you’ll get’] in action placed on a sign over one of Yekaterinburg’s busiest streets.

Not only do Russians often comment on occurrences in every day life by using «пословица» [a proverb] or «поговорка» [a saying], sometimes they’ll even use «цитаты» [pl. quotes] from famous Russian and/or classic Soviet movies which «вошли в пословицу» [past tense: became proverbial]. Not always will these quotations fit the situation in question, but Russians are not strangers to adaptation. For example, when things didn’t work out with my boyfriend I explained it to my professor here at Ural State University by saying: «мне не везёт в любви» [I’m unlucky in love]. As an answer to this he told me: «не повезёт в любви, так повезёт в смерти» [”if (you’re) not lucky in love, then (you’ll) get lucky in death”]. This expression was actually nothing else but a reversal of the famous quote «не повезёт в смерти, так повезёт в любви» [“if (you’re) not lucky in death, then (you’ll) get lucky in love] from the classic Soviet movie «Белое солнце пустыни» [“White Sun of the Desert”]. Russians do this all the time – comment on every day life by using sometimes quotes from movies, sometimes century old proverbs, sometimes reversing them around to fit certain specific circumstances. Not always do they get it right (see the above-described incident with my Russian professor!), but they almost always succeed with one thing: «путать иностранца» [impfv. to confuse the foreigner].

I remember the first time we discussed the proverb «тише едешь, дальше будешь» in class back when I was still a beginner of Russian studying the language in Siberia. The expression made no sense to me at all when I translated it literally as: “the slower you go, the further you’ll be”. How can that be? How can I get further if I’m going slower? Where’s the logic here? It took me a long time before I realized what this proverb actually meant: “if you do something fast and sloppy then it won’t give good results”. The first thing we should know about Russian proverbs is that they often place the verb in second person singular – leaving the pronoun «ты» [you] out of the sentence, though. But by doing this proverbs and sayings are not actually pointing at ‘you!’ as an individual but at everyone together. This is in Russian called «безличная конструкция» [an impersonal construction] and uses either a verb in second person singular – like «едешь» above – or a verb in third person plural – like in the expression «говорят» literally ‘they say’ but usually it means ‘it is said’ (meaning we don’t know who ‘they’ are). When dealing with the above-mentioned proverb the second thing we should take into account is what exactly the word «тише» means in this context.

«Тише» is comparative to both the adverb «тихо» [quietly; softly; slowly] and the adjective «тихий» [soft, low; quiet, still; calm, tranquil]. One way of using the adverb together with its comparative version – as a simple illustration – could be like this: «он говорил тихо» [he spoke quietly] but «она говорила тише» [she spoke more quietly]. The adverb together with an exclamation mark – like this: «тихо!» - means ‘take it easy!’ or ‘be careful!’. Thus saying «тише!» as an interjection translates into English as ‘quiet!’ or a ‘please be quiet!’

«Тише» as comparative to the adjective «тихий» can be illustrated like this: «вчера была тихая ночь» [last night was a calm night] but «сегодня ночь тише» [tonight the night is calmer]. (I know this example is pretty crappy and maybe not really what could be used in real life, but hey! the grammar’s alright anyway). This adjective is also used in the following expressions: «тихий ход!» [(as a warning to drivers in dangerous areas or after a road accident) drive slowly!] and «тихий час» [hour of rest (on hospitals, kindergartens etc)].

«Тише» can be found also in another Russian proverb, but this time it doesn’t mean ‘slower, more carefully’ as in the previous proverb using it, but ‘quieter’: «тише воды, ниже травы» [lit. ‘quieter than water, lower than the grass’]. An English equivalent of this proverb I think it would be “quite as a mouse” (that’s how it is translated into Swedish anyway). What do you think? Which English proverb would you translate it into? And not only this one, but also the first one – «тише едешь, дальше будешь»?

I think it would be safe to say that Russians take their proverbs very seriously – seriously enough to put them up on their roads (where they lose their figurative meaning and acquire their ‘original’ connotation) as a way to make drivers slow down – for they’ll get farther in the end anyway!

The Splendor of Russian Proverbs! [Пословицы!]

Posted by josefina No Comments
Jan 17 2009

The ‘Word of the Week’ that we’ve had here on this blog for a while now is a very good thing (it proved especially good when that “word” was «Барак Обама»), but what about making some changes in the new year and try ‘Proverb of the Week’ instead? If you really want to get to know a people, find out what they think, what they feel, or know well, and not just today (because for that you could read a paper or a book and feel content afterwards), but what this people has felt and known and thought for a long time now, to where should you turn? To the «пословица» [adage, proverb; paraphrase] of course! Phraseology is also important when it comes to this, but phraseology is harder to make use of in a foreign language because it should be a part of the sentence you pronounce, whereas a proverb is already a finished sentence, ready made to be used whenever it seems fit. In Russian proverbs are especially interesting to a foreign ear (and eye!) because they show how deep and far back in the Russian roots the case system and the free syntax lie. This is also true of proverbs in any other language, but let us stick to Russian here. Most Russian proverbs are impersonal, expressed either in second person singular (like «Что посеешь, то и пожнёшь» [‘What you sow, that you harvest']), or third person plural (for example, «Лес рубят – щепки летят» [‘When they cut down the forest the splinters fly']. There are also an abundance of Russian proverbs of the type «Муж и жена – одна сатана» [‘Husband and wife - one Satan', meaning that husband and wife are alike in what they want and think, and always act collectively]. Proverbs are a fascinating part of the language because they show both how people speaking a certain language think and their way of life. In the two first proverbs we sense that they’re from a time when Russia was still largely an agricultural country, and when it comes to the third… it could be from a thousand years ago, but it could also be from just yesterday.

The play «Горе от ума» ["Woe from Wit"] from 1825 is written in rhymed verse and many of its lines have become famous proverbs and expressions. Not many of them are still in use today (they seem a bit archaic to modern Russian), though their essence remain true, like for example «Чтоб иметь детей, кому ума не доставало?» [meaning: ‘You don't have to be smart to have children']. Here it is preformed by international students at Ural State University in June 2008.

In today’s Russia many proverbs that have served the nation since what seems like forever get a second life when they’re changed with the times. One of the first proverbs I learned how to use and then learned to love in its ‘second life form’ is «С кем поведёшься, от того и наберёшься» [‘Who you make friends with, from them you also accumulate' (wisdom, experience, habits, and so on and so forth)]. The meaning of it is that you become like the people you surround yourself with, both in a good way and in a bad way. In Russia today everybody knows the original form of this proverb, and that has caused this form to almost become extinct, because people have started coming up with their own versions. Most of them imply that ‘making friends’ with someone often leads to ‘more than friendship’. In the Urals I have only heard «С кем поведёшься, от того и залетишь» ['with whom you hang out, from them you also get knocked up']. The verb «залететь» doesn’t only mean ‘to fly in’, but also has the colloquial meaning ‘to get knocked up; to get pregnant’ (stress on the fact that it was ‘unplanned’). But there are many, many variants of this proverb, proving two things: 1. Russians know how strong influence from friends can be, and 2. this influence can take different forms, not only will you accumulate habits and experience but other things as well. Once I heard someone in Perm, I think, say «С кем поведёшься, с тем и посидишь» [‘with whom you hang out, with them you'll also serve prison time']. 

On this site I found the following versions, apparently from «Антипословицы русского народа» [The Anti Proverbs of the Russian People]:

«С кем поведёшься, на того и похожи дети» [...like them the children also look]
«С кем поведёшься, от того и забеременеешь» [...from them you also get pregnant].
«С кем поведёшься, от того и заболеешь» [...from them you also get sick].
«С кем поведёшься, от того и залетишь» [...from them you also get knocked up].
«С кем поведёшься, от того и заразишься» [...from them you also get infected].
«С кем поведёшься, от того и третий лишний» [...from them you don't also need a third].
«С кем поведёшься, с тем и напьёшься» [...with them you get also drunk].
«С кем поведёшься, с тем и переспишь» [...with them you also sleep].
«С кем поведёшься, с тем и подерёшься» [...with them you also fight].
«С кем поведёшься, с тем и проживёшь всю жизнь» [...with them you'll also live your whole life].
«С кем поведёшься, так тебе и надо» [...and that's also the way you deserve it].
«С кем поведёшься, тот и отец ребёнка» [...they are also the father of the child].

 

 

What would be a good English translation of this proverb? Is there any English variant of it? In Swedish we have ‘man blir som man umgås’ which can roughly be translated as ‘you become like the way hang out (with other people)’. The meaning is the same as the Russian, though it lacks a second half which could be used for creativity in the way the Russian people has been creative with theirs…

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