PRATIE PLACE

Search this site powered by FreeFind

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Don't hang noodles on my ears

From "Random House Russian-English Dictionary of Idioms" by Sophia Lubensky, as reviewed by Michael Specter:
Okrit' AmerikuTo discover America (to reinvent the wheel; to come up with a breathtaking revelation everyone already knows)
Volchy biletTo be blacklisted; to receive a negative evaluation; to be finished
V Tulu so svoim samovarom nye yesdyatDon't go to Tula with your samovar (Tula is famous for making samovars)
Metat ikruTo spawn caviar (to raise a huge fuss about something)
Kashu maslom nye isportishYou can't spoil kasha with butter (you can't have too much of a good thing)
s zhiru besitsyaTo go mad from eating so much fat - have it so cushy you get soft
Bolno zhirno budetSick with grease, painfully fat, it's a lot of fat: who does this guy think he is? Is his diet so rich he can treat everybody like a serf?
Raskhlyobyvat kashuEat up the kasha - take care of mess
Malo kashi yelto have eaten too little kasha in your life to be worth much
Veshat lapshu na ushiDon't try hanging noodles on my ears (famously, Gorbachev to a member of Parliament trying to weasel out of responsibility for the failed 1991 coup
Ni bogu svechka ni chyortu kocherganeither a candle to God nor a rod to the devil (useless)
Ne bogi gorshki obzhigayutIt's not God who bakes all the clay pots (get up and do what needs to be done)
Snyavshi golovu, po volosam ne plachutDon't cry over your hair when your head's been cut off


Technorati Tags: , , ,

3 Comments:

At 10:54 PM, Blogger invadesoda said...

Cute. I like the one about not crying over your hair when your head's been cut off.

 
At 3:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

My buddy said that "hanging noodles" is equivalent to "Don't pull my leg". But I'm curious about the origin. Any idea?

 
At 8:23 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Has anyone heard of a book on idioms called "Don't put noodles on my ears"?

 

Post a Comment

<< Home