Just A Fun Fact #3

RUSSIAN TEA VOCAB/ ALL THE NUANCES EXPLAINED

ча́й - the drink itself and a product in the store

ча́йная зава́рка or simply зава́рка - dry tea leaves in the packaging

ча́йный паке́тик - teabag

крупнолистово́й чай - whole-leave grade of tea

чаи́нка (the plural form чаи́нки is more common since usually there is more than one of them in your tea) - fannings, wet pieces of tea leaves or tea dust which fell into the tea

де́лать чай - to make tea. The construction is widely used and describes the process of making tea from any tea product i.e. leaves, tea bags.

ста́вить ча́йник - put on a kettle It is not common to say включи́ть чайник

поста́вь ча́йник = поста́вь во́ду - boil some water in kettle (usually for the tea)

я уже́ поста́вила ча́йник, ско́ро бу́дем пи́ть чай - I’ve already put the kettle on, we’ll have tea soon

зава́ривать (чай) - to brew. One of the steps of the process of tea making (usually from whole-leave grades of tea) when tea leaves are poured with hot water and left for a few minutes in the teapot. The process requires time as tea leaves need time to release natural chemicals. When it is happening the Russians say чай зава́ривается, i.e. the tea is being brewed.

зава́ривать ка́шу (to cook kasha) = to cause a situation that brings about troublesome or unpleasant consequences ну и ка́шу же ты завари́л! - what a mess you’ve made!

but! вари́ть ка́шу = to cook kasha

наста́ивать (чай) - to infuse. The idea of the process of настаивание is to wait longer than usual so the taste becomes strong enough. This verb can be used to explain the same process while preparing herbal teas and infusions.

Remember that this verb has two meanings!!! наста́ивать - to insist

подожди́, чай ещё не завари́лся = подожди́, чай ещё не настоя́лся - wait, the tea is not brewed yet

остужа́ть (чай) - to cool the tea down

электри́ческий чайник/электроча́йник - electric kettle

зава́рочный ча́йник - teapot

ча́шка = кру́жка - cup/mug traditionally ча́шка is the elegant cup with a special design, usually a part of a tea set. Кру́жка (mug) usually has a shape of a cylinder and larger than a regular cup. Now the differences are almost forgotten so you can use any word of your choice when you talk about tableware. But! It is always ча́шка/ча́шечка чая - a cup of tea

блю́дце - saucer

ча́йная ло́жка - teaspoon

ча́йный серви́з - tea set

моло́чник - milk jug

са́харница - sugar bowl

чай с са́харом (мёдом, варе́ньем, молоко́м, лимо́ном) - tea with sugar (honey, jam, milk, lemon)

#russian

Ah, this Tik Tok always makes me giggle. Tik Tok by: prisyuk

Dmitri Prigov’s visual poetry

Dmitri Prigov (1940-2007) was a Russian conceptual poet, artist, and dissident. One of the things he is famous for is his стихограммы (стих ‘poem’ + грамма (’gram’, a part of words like phonogram or program, from Greek γράμμα ‘recording’)) 

I don’t understand much about poetry, and probably neither do you, but I mean look at that 

Как я весел! Как я мил! – How cheerful I am! How nice I am! Смерть рядом – Death is near

Ин вино веритас – ‘In vino veritas’ (Latin), In wine there is truth А в пиве что? – And what’s there in beer?

В начале было слово, и слово было у Бога, и слово было Бог (сentral circle) – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God  И свет во тьме светит – And the light shines in the darkness

Если враг не сдается, его уничтожают – If the enemy does not surrender, he must be destroyed Нет – No Враг – Enemy

И восстанут они все из могил своих, и призовут нас всех к ответу – And then they will all rise up from their graves and bring us all to justice

Know the difference!

“За здоровье!” (roughly translates as “to health!”) — one of the ways of saying “cheers!”. People in Russia like to toast a lot: to friendship, to love, to family etc. “За здоровье!” is just one of those basic toasts.

“На здоровье!” (roughly translates as “for health!”) — one of the ways of saying “you’re welcome”. “На здоровье” basically means something like “what I just did (or said) was done for your hapiness (or health, in this case)”.

Example: Russian version of Detroit: Become Human

M: Breakfast is ready. Bacon and eggs, just the way you like them.

C: Thank you, Marcus.

M: You're welcome.

tag yourself

LOOK AT THESE KITTENS!

greedy-guts

meany

idler

crybaby

untidy

little thief

coward

Tell me, does anyone of you resemble these kittens?

Just wanted to let you know that English speaking people aren’t the only people who have problems with the word ‘pregnant’. This is Milla Jovovich trying to say the word ‘забеременела’ on a local Russian TV show. The original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AATwZGHgn24&t=229s

Just a fun fact #2

In old Russian times, people used to say "спаси тебя бог" (spasi teb'a bokh), which literally means "God save you". But then, someone took the first and the last word from that sentence and put them together. This is how "спасибо" (spasibo) was created back in 17th century, and Russians use it as "thank you" nowadays.

Hi! Please do more of Evening Urgant or Improvisation videos.. I love watching them and they are really helpful for my Russian but I can't find them anywhere else online so I hope you translate more. You have an amazing blog keep up the good work!!

Hi! Absolutely! There's a lot of Evening Urgant content on the official Youtube channel (youtube.com/c/urgantshow), but unfortunately none of the videos are subbed. The Improvisation content is a lot trickier, there's almost no public access to the episodes online. I myself had a hard time finding the source, and the videos aren't subbed either. I already have a couple of episodes in my drafts. I'm going to translate them once I'm finished with all of my exams! Thank you for the feedback, it means so, so much!

Hey guys! Here's a quick tip on how to start to write in Russian cursive right away! I hope it was useful! Have a nice day! 💜

Me in a restaurant

Waiter: here's your glass Me: oh, thank you Waiter: *puts the glass down* Me: thank you Waiter: *fills the glass with water* Me: thank you Waiter: I'll bring your order soon Me: thank you