Proverbs, adages, sayings

 

National proverbs and adages are wise advice, thousands of memorable sayings of Russian people given in allegorical, funny, serious, philosophical, skeptical and observation manners including rhymes. They are known among Russians since 11-12 centuries.  Such cultural expressions are traditionally transmitted orally from one generation to another in oral and written forms.

Let’s discover most popular and well known phrases of our country and people.

«Pod lezhachi kamen’ voda ne techyot»

 (Literal translation – «The water does not flow through under the lying stone»)

This means in Russian – no money no honey, if you want something good to happen in your life you need to work on it. Foreign analogue is «A rolling stone gathers no moss». This saying Russians use to motivate themselves doing something.

 

«Pan ili propal»

(Literal translation – «Either King or get lost»)

This means in Russian – sink or swim, get rich or die in trying, don’t be afraid to take your risk. Russians use this adage before taking serious risk.

 

«So svoim samovarom v Tulu ne ezdyat»

(Literal translation «Don’t go to Tula city with your own samovar»)

Samovar is a heated metal container to heat and boil water for tea, coffee etc., popular in Russia since 18th century.  Tula is a national producer of samovars. So this proverb means don’t do something useless. There is foreign analogue «Don’t carry coals to Newcastle» (Newcastle produces a lot of coal) or don’t carry water to the river.

Russians also has continuations of this proverb.

We say «To go to Tula with your own samovar is like to go to Paris with your wife». Some Russians (masculine) call their wives «samovars» and dream to go to a party or holiday alone to catch some new adventures.

 

«Kashi maslom ne isportit’»

(Literal translation – «You can’t spoil porridge with butter»)

This means in Russian - wealth is never a trouble or don’t worry about improving your wealth. What is good in large quantities is also good. Russians use this proverb to calm themselves and justify their very good way of life. Foreign version is «Plenty is no plague».

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«Bez truda ne vitashish I ribky iz pruda»

(Literal translation «Without labor you can’t catch fish from the pond »)

This means if you want to succeed you need to work hard and be patient. We use this saying to calm somebody and to prepare him be patient in what he is doing. Western analogue of this proverb is «Cat in gloves catches no mice».

 

«Posle draki kulakami ne mashut»

(Literal translation « After fighting nobody wave fists »)

This means - everything is good at time. When it is late don’t try to bring it back and replay. We also have another proverb with the same meaning -  «Lozhka horosha k obedy» - what means – a spoon is good at lunch time. Russians eat soup with spoon and eat soup only at lunch time and never in the evening. Foreign analogue of these proverbs are «One does not sharpen the axes after the time they are needed» for the first one and «A spoon is dear when lunchtime is near» for the second proverb. Often Russians use these proverbs to calm somebody after failure, to prevent him from unexpected emotional and sometimes aggressive and uncontrolled actions, responses.

 

«Sem’ raz otmer’, odin raz otrezh’»

(Literal translation «Seven times measure, one time cut »)

This means think carefully many times before doing something. This saying is used to prevent somebody from haste. Foreign analogue is «An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure».

                                                                                         

«Muj golova a jena sheya»

(Literal translation «Husband is a head and wife is its neck»)

It means Man can’t do what he wants only if his woman wants the same or just women controls men in fact. Often Russian man use this proverb to complain another man how women control their lives. Foreign analogue is «Behind every great man there’s a great woman».

 

«Rybak rybaka vidit iz daleka»

(Literal translation «One fisherman see another fisherman from faraway»)

It means we easily find people of the same interests. We use this proverb to highlight somebody’s joint interests and views. Foreign analogue is «Birds of a feather flock together».

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«Pospeshish ludey nasmeshish»

(Literal translation «If you hurry up you will make people laugh»)

The meaning is – think carefully and take your time to make what you do properly and correctly. Russians use this proverb to prevent somebody from haste or to judge somebody for mistakes because of its haste. Foreign version is «Haste makes waste».

 

«Esli bi da ka bi rasli bi vo rtu gribi»

(Literal translation «If were here and if were there in the mouth grew mushrooms»)

It means history doesn’t know conditional. We can’t change the past. Let’s live in today and concentrate on real things what we can still change. Russians say this proverb when people start complaining about their past and dreaming about how good it would be to change that. Foreign analogue is «If ifs and ands were pots and pans there’d be no work for tinkers».

 

«Ne vsyo kotu Maslenitsa»

(Literal translation «Not every day in the life of a cat is Maslenitsa»)

Maslenitsa is Russian national holiday when people eat a lot of pancakes and sour cream. According to national legends and fairy tales cats always steal sour cream when they have a chance to do it. Maslenitsa is a good opportunity for them to do it. This proverb means not every day is a good day. Often people say this when something goes wrong during a day to encourage themselves. Foreign analogue is «Into every life a little rain must fall».

 

«Yabloko ot yablony ne daleko padaet»

(Literal translation «Apple doesn’t fall far away from apple tree»)

It means that children very often copy their parents with mostly negative meaning – bad children – bad parents. This saying is used in Russia when we want to underline somebody’s’ negative features in comparison with his parents. Another one Russian proverb with the same meaning is  «U khudoy kuritsy khudie yaitsa» (Thin thicken - thin eggs). Foreign equivalent is «As the baker so the buns, as the father so the sons».

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