Anastasia | 37 | she/her. I'm gonna tell you how incredible is Russian language and everyday living — not seen neither in tourist guides nor language textbooks. Adult content may appear.
After some break today is one more "word of the day"s. As in "Red = beautiful", it's about one curious words with an unusual meanings set.
This is the добрый [dobryi] adjective.
Remember of добрый молодец in the post mentioned above? It was translated as "a handsome lad". Though the basic modern meaning of добрый is "kind, good, nice, gentle". For ex., добрый волшебник [dobryi volshebnik] - "a good wizard", будьте так добры [bud'te tak dobry] - "would you be so kind".
So is добрый молодец just "a good young male person"? Maybe yes. But this is definitely not that "good" which is "kind, nice and gentle". In old Russia, as in other countries in medieval and pre-medieval age, a man or a lad was not welcome to be all peaceful and gentle. So the "good" here is more likely "good in all respects, which are appreciated". And what was a lad appreciated for? Strength of course. Wit and intellect, maybe. And of course (especially speaking ot the "красна девица - добрый молодец" pair, representing a nice good-looking couple), handsomeness. So all of this together may give us some definition of добрый in this idiom.
But that's not all!
There are lot of other idioms, containing this word, and the meanings of it are sometimes surprising.
For example,
добрая половина [dobraya polovina] - "a bigger part"
Literally, it is "a good half". What's "good" about it? The fact it's big. And we may refer here to добрый молодец again to see the important factor of strength. Big = strong, that's clear. And strong = good. So we speak of добрый even when not meaning some material object if large size. And maybe not meaning any good at all!
Добрая половина студентов прогуляла лекцию - "Most of students skipped the lecture".
В этой фирме добрая половина руководства - идиоты - "This company has a management consisting of idiots for more than a half".
By the way, why half, not just part? A half is a half, 1/2, it cannot be bigger or smaller than other half.
But here we have a nuance. This idiom means exactly that bigger part, which is close to a half. About 55 or 60%, for example. And, even more otfen - some part, of which we don't know, is it bigger and if yes, then for what percentage, but suppose it is for some. As in above: nobody did a calculation of how much idiots sits in a company's management; but according to management decisions we make an assumption there are idiots (and not idiots also, but idiots are more in the number).
Also, the word describing something big, but not good, is
раздобреть [razdobret'] - "to become big"
In old Russia, where large body was considered an indicator of health and beauty not for men only, but also for ladies (for ex., we politely say полный [polnyi] instead of толстый [tolstyi] - "fat", and this word also have a meaning "full, complete") it meant, of course, "getting good". But today it's just an ironical description of getting fat.
Как ты раздобрел-то на домашних харчах! - "You've become so big while consuming homemade food!"
But enough of it. Let's speak in conclusion of something really good. that would be one of meanings of добро [dobro] - a noun what добрый adjective is descending from.
Добра наживать [dobra nazhivat'] - "to increase wealth"
That's a popular phrase for finishing Russian fairytales, speaking of the main characters having a happy wedding and starting a peaceful wealthy life: И стали они жить-поживать и добра наживать.
Here добро (literally "good") means some material property, which was a main part of old Russian's wealth: not money basically, but pottery and utencils, decorations, clothes, food supplies, cattle, and so on. It has much in common to English "goods". Except in English goods is mostly something for sale, but Russian добро is some personal belongings, which could be inherited or earned/collected by a person or a family.
Earning/collecting is the meaning of наживать (perfect нажить [nazhit']). This verb descends from жить [zhit'] - "to live", and i think it's a kinda beautiful meaning - "to get something not by a chance or an extreme achievement, but in process of calm living, of everyday labour and keeping your household growing".
Be wealthy, beautiful and strong! See you later in my Russian culture/language blog!
Давай на «ты». How to switch to informal way of communication in Russian without looking stupid
Alright then. Here's another suggestion from my dear follower, and it's both of modern Russia and Russian language.
"How is a non-Russian to know when to suggest a switch to ты? Is it ever appropriate for a non-Russian to initiate it? Etc."
That's a really great topic, both obvious and misterious, just like what I'm loving! Obvious — for every Russian, due to some specific cultural code; misterious — also for every Russian, for it's really not easy to formalize and describe. Anyway, challenge accepted! :)
So, let's start from the basics.
In Russian there are 2 ways of addressing pronouns:
вы (вас/вам/вами/о вас) [vy (vas/vam/vami/o vas)] - a formal way;
ты (тебя/тебе/тобой/о тебе) [ty (tebya/tebe/toboi/o tebe)] - an informal way;
While in English there basically is only one — "you". Although English-speaking persons also have "thou" pronoun, literally meaning ты, but it sounds a bit obsolete and is not popular (except you are speaking to God in your prayer, as we were explained at English lessons at school :)).
But how to make 2 forms of addressing out of 1? Let's see.
In Russian, we say вы to people who are:
1. Not too close to us, such as strangers or some random short-term aquaintances, such as travelling companions, people whom you're waiting in line with, etc.
2. Respected by us, for ex. our boss or a government officer of a teacher, or just an elderly person etc. As for me, I also keep saying вы to all my students, no matter 70 or 7 years old, highlighting my respect to them in studying environment (even when they are my friends so I say ты to them out of studying).
So, вы is a default form of address to show our respect and tact and seeing other's personal boundaries. But in some cases it may show also coldness and distance; see below for it.
And whom are we sayind ты to?
1. Friends of course. Mostly though; there are cases when people who make friends differ very much in age and/or knowledge, for ex., a teacher and his/her former student. Then a younger person may choose to say вы to an older friend, while the older one can feel free to say ты. But this is rather exception of rules.
2. Lovers. Just always in modern Russia.
3. Family members. Not always. In Russia family is more than it is, for ex., in US. Very often we live at one place (flat basically) as one family including parents, children an one of the parent's parents. Husband parents to a wife are called свёкр [svyokr], m. and свекровь [svekrov'], f. And wife's parents to a husbands are тесть [tyest'], m. and тёща [tyoscha], f.. So, although they are one family, a man may say вы to his тёща or тесть, or the opposite of a woman and her husband's parents. But parental/children communication is always by ты. Except you are in pre-revolutionary Russia at the beginning of XXth century or earlier. That time was a common practice for children to address their parents by вы, representing - again, respect.
4. Some people who are not our friends actually, but who make us feel some soulmating, even situative. For ex.: if you are just waiting in line nearby someone and make a small talk, you probably say вы; but if you're doing the same for several hours and people nearby are you fellow sufferers and you start to discuss some government politics and some problems as a whole and your children and your pets and your diseases - you may say to this people ты. Usually it comes even without any declaration: you just find yourself talking to people in informal way. And then it all ends, and then you can't even remember their names, and this is absolutely fine when you're in Russia :)
That's the basic rules; but as always in Russia, there are plenty of exclusions. For ex., some people (usually not very polite and educated) prefer to address by ты to anyone, no matter is their counterpart an acquaintance or a stranger, young or old, an ordinary or a respectful person. We dislike it generally. And we say to such person (sounding a bit rude): "Прекратите мне тыкать" [prekratite mne tykat'] - "stop saying ты to me"; also it's a kind of wordplay, for тыкать may be read as a verb from ты, literally "making ты", but basically it means "to poke". So we express that hearing ты from an insolent stranger is unpleasant for us as much as anybody would poke us with a finger or a stick or something.
Summarizing all above,
what could a situation when you'd like to transfer to more informal communication be like?
1. When you're making some random but suddenly sincere acquaintance.
What to do:
Just continue the conversation using ты instead of вы. I say, nobody will mind it. Anyway, few hours later you may not even remind of each other.
2. When you've got a feeling it may be a friendship.
What to do:
That's the moment when a phrase from my headline should work. Давай на ты [davai na ty] - "let's transfer to ты". There's about 95% that you'll be answered "Да, конечно" [da, kaneshna] - "yes, sure" or "Не вопрос" [ne vopros] - " no problem", or something like that. If one've refused that proposal, it's depending on his own special standards of communication, not on you. So feel free to initiate, and don't be upset if you're getting a refuse. Also, answering to my dear suggestor: no, it doesn't matter if you're a Russian or not. Except counterwise: if you're a foreigner who knows of вы and ты thing and at least tries to figure it out, you have +500 to charisma in the eye of your Russian companion, and he/she will more likely approve your movement.
3. When you want to become less formal with someone of your business or learning affairs: colleagues, boss, business partners, teachers, students and so on. IMPORTANT NOTICE below: some rules for it.
What to do:
Just what's above, but in more formal way. For example:
Вы не возражаете, если мы перейдем на "ты"? [vy ne vozrazhaete yesli my pereidyom na ty] - Would you mind if we transfer to ты?
Думаю, мы можем общаться на "ты", как вы считаете? [dumayu my mozhem obschat'sya na ty, kak vy schitayete] - I guess we might communicate using ты, what do you think?
And now the IMPORTANT NOTICE. There are certain rules of etiquette for suggesting transfering to ты. That's not some strict and dogmatic thing, but you'd better remember.
Who should initiate that transferring:
if a gentleman and a lady are communicating: a lady.
if a younger and an older persons are communicating: an older person. A bit complicated is a situation where a younger person is a lady and the older one is a gentleman. In that case, I guess lady still should initiate this, but it takes more time to get sure an opponent is really ready to transfer to an informal way.
if an employee and a boss are communicating: a boss. Also it works for if there are a boss and a big boss, etc.
So, the one who is more privileged (who's got higher social status, or an respectable age, or who is a lady in front of a gentleman) is the one who suggests less formal way. That's his/her right to initiate this. Another part of communication may agree or decline that (but declining may be a bit offencive; except you grant your counterpart the right to say to you ты while youre still keep saying вы.
So I guess that's all rules for transfering to ты in Russian. I hope you've got them all — for I've not yet at all :))))
And, as a resume.
Remember I've said about coldness and distance? It's actual sometimes, when one side of communication wants to be closer, but other one prefers to be all formal and strict. That was more actual in Russia of XIXth century, where the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin was living - for that was a time when saying вы was fine not only for children to parents, but even for a guy or a girl to his/her sweetheart. But ты still existed, representing an extreme grade of intimacy and sincerity.
Вы и Ты
Пустое "вы" сердечным "ты"
Она, обмолвясь, заменила
И все счастливые мечты
В душе влюбленной возбудила.
Пред ней задумчиво стою,
Свести очей с нее нет силы;
И говорю ей: как вы милы!
И мыслю: как тебя люблю!
That is the poem by Pushkin, which I've learned by heart when I was about 7 years old: just because it hanged on the wall in a classroom of our school. I always considered it beautiful. So let me try and translate it for you (not equirithmically or even rhymed of course); to be more revealing I'll use "thou" when ты is assumed.
You and Thou
She've said a sincere "thou" instead of a shallow "you"
Maybe by mistake,
And she've woken up by this
All the happy dreams inside of my soul fallen in love.
I stand in front of her thoughtfully,
I cannot take my eyes off her,
And I say to her: "How nice of you",
And I think of her: "How much I love thou".
...so I guess that's all for today. Live high, make friends, transfer to ты, be proud of what you and your relationship are. More Russian language discoveries - in my further posts. Follow me so!
Moscow subway: the underground palace (slightly haunted maybe)
Hi there, my dear followers! Today I'd like to dilute all the plenty of posts of Russian history, and tell you something about modern Russia. My beautiful follower from US have suggested me a nice idea to write about Moscow public transportation system. But the whole topic seems to be too wide and maybe too boring. Because we have basically the same, for example, the New-Yorkers or Londoners have: some buses, some trams, and, of course, subway. But Moscow subway itself is a very specific thing! I realized it only when started to say that transportation post would be boring :)) That's one of my favourite parts in blogging - when you suddently find out some things, which are very familiar to you, could be new and surprizing for somebody else :)
So, today's post is about Moscow subway!
Komsomolskaya station
In Russian subway is called метрополитен [metropoliten], and as in case of пригородные электропоезда, literally no-one calls it by it's full name. We say метро [metro] instead of this.
To be honest, I bearly could choose some certain pictures for the post. Because almost all stations of Moscow metro are incredibly beautiful. Every one has it's own unique design and decoration. And every one, depending on a year of it's construction, represents some design and architecture trends of the time.
The station on picture above is one of the oldest in Moscow metro. It's the part of the first metro line, open in 1935, and is decorated in Empire style, which is typical for early Soviet times. Most of central stations, built in 30th-50th, look the same lush and rich.
Central stations of Moscow metro: Novoslobodskaya, Ploschad' Revolyucii , Mayakovskaya, Kiyevskaya
New stations had been added constantly. And late Soviet ones were way less pompous. But, as you remember — a specific face was given to every one of them.
The stations open in 90s, are maybe the least attractive. The designs were humble and minimalistic, for 90th as a whole were very hard times for Russia (лихие девяностые they were called, and лихой [likhoi] is some special word meaning simultaneously "evil", "wild", "reckless", "dashing" and many other nuances):
Stations open in 90s: Altuf'yevo, Volzhskaya
In 2000s funding of metro construction increased, so Russian architectors were able to design beautiful stations again. In modern style though, like that:
Stations of 2000s - 2020s: Troparyovo, Stakhanovskaya, Slavyansky bul'var
So what can I tell you of Moscow metro? In fact, there are the whole websites and blogs about it, so information is plenty. No-one longread post can accomodate it :) So here will be just a few random facts of it.
Let's go then.
1. For today Moscow metro has 250 stations, 14 lines with 435 kms of summary lenght. Every day it transfers 6 670 000 passengers.
2. The cost of passage now is 61 roubles and doesn't depend on travel distance: you pay only once when coming in through a turnstile. We call them so, though nothing in it turns now :) They look like double doors (unfortunately, I cannot attach more photos to show'em to you), which open since you pay. Btw, it turned so in 2010th only; before it there were gates, which were always open; but if you try to pass it without payment, barrier doors pop out from two sides with a loud clang and block your way. Very often they work too late and punch your flanks instead of closing before you. The same could be if you've paid, but pass too slowly or too fast or a turnstile is just faulty. Some researchers consider it - someone jokingly, someone seriously - one of the reasons why Soviet and Russian people were so incredulous and alert about possibilities :) Just imagine, you can see an open way but cannot tell if you'll be hit by invisible danger on it or not :) As for me, I was extremely scared of it when I was a kid; so many Russian children did. It seems to me I can hear this clang even today :)
3. During WWII, when Soviet Union was under attack of nazis army, some stations were used as bomb shelters for people of Moscow. The Kirovskaya station (known today as Chistye Prudy) had become the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. On 6th of Novemder, 1941, the Mayakovskaya station was converted into an event hall for the festive event, dedicated to the Revolution Day. There was even a musical concert right on the underground station.
4. Stations of Moscow metro are mostly named after the on-ground objects, which are located nearby: streets, squares, railway stations, the whole districts and so on. The most common structure of a station name is «***ская» ["***skaya"], where -ск is a suffix describing attachment. For ex., завод (a factory, a plant) - заводской (something related to a plant, for ex. заводской рабочий - "a plant worker", заводская проходная - "a plant entrance"). And the -ая ending is related to feminine, due to the "station", which is a feminine word in Russian. Specially for my dear follower, who suggested the idea of the post: yes, some stations are named after famous Russian people. But this is also the inheritance of on-ground objects names. For ex.:
Пушкинская [pushkinskaya] - after Pushkinskaya square; after A. S. Pushkin, a great Russian poet and writer, who is literally a starter of modern Russian language, being too heavy and solemn before him;
Чеховская [chekhovskaya] - after Chekhov street (today is given back it's historical name Malaya Dmitrovka); after A. P. Chekhov, a Russian writer and scriptwriter, who was able to show all the slight moving of human emotions through some everyday and familiar life events;
Достоевская [dostoyevskaya] - after Dostoyevsky street; after F. M. Dostoyevsky, a Russian writer, who had represented in his novels all the complicated way of human soul, acknowleging itself and finding it's place in the world harmony.
5. There are lots of city legends about Moscow metro. Most of them were produced by "diggers" - a very specific 90s subculture of city speleologists, who used to get into metro tunnels in some unofficial, prohibited and dangerous ways: through sewage or vent systems, for example. Diggers had a wide classification of paranormal creatures, allegedly met in metro tunnels and systems, such as various types of ghosts. Some people said they saw ghosts even on stations, for ex., Aviamotornaya, Mar'ina Roscha and Sokol stations. Moscow metro has even it's own ghost trains - the whole 2 of them! Both are allegedly seen at the Circle line, after midnight, before metro closing. Also there is an extremely popular legend of giant mutant rats. According to these tales, rats, living in metro tunnels, are as big as dogs. Sometimes they are also blind of bald or both, depends of storyteller's imagination :)
6. There is a special government subway line called Metro-2. For it's top secret, no-one knows exactly, where is it located - just somewhere from the city center leading to the south, outwards Moscow. Obviously, no ordinary people can get there. Some people even question isn't it another legend; but it actually exists, according to some direct and indirect confirmations.
So,
I guess that's all I'd like to tell you about Moscow metro. Stay tuned and learn more of modern and historical Russia! Also a friendly reminder that you can feel free to ask me anything via ask form — I'd be happy to make a post or to by your requests.
Hi there, my dear friends. Today I'd like to make some kind of "word of the day" post — but in my own way. Cause regular "word of the day" posts are boring — today I'll speak of one word which often is understood incorrectly not only among foreigners, but even by some Russians.
That's the word красный [krasnyi] - lit. "red".
Seemingly, what could be more simple? For example, Красная площадь [krasnaya ploschad'], always translated as the Red Square, is called so because all the buildings on it, including Kremlin towers, are made of red brick... or not?
Nope :)
Let's start of that from the end of XVIIth century til the end of XIXth one the towers and walls of Moscow Kremlin were painted white, like this:
To find out the real point of why a white square was called "red", let's have a look at the word красный (m.) / красная (f.) / красное (n.). And also — красивый (m.) / красивая (f.) / красивое (n.). As you may notice, they have the same root: крас-. Because in old Russian language they were literally one word!
Красный originally meant красивый [krasivyi] (beautiful). And the red color itself had a lot of other names in old Russian: червонный [chervonnyi], черёмный [cheryomnyi], багряный [bagryanyi]. It was considered the most attractive color: vivid, noticeable, color of ripe fruit and hot blood, associated with life power. So firstly this was just "beautiful color". And much later this word was completely connected with a color, and for other beautiful thing another word (very look-alike though) was formed.
So, the square was not "red". It was just the largest, the most important and beautiful in Moscow.
And what else can be красный in Russian?
Красное солнце [krasnoye solntse] - beautiful Sun
Even today some Russian people think that it should look like some kind of a specific "red sun". But that's much more simple. In Pagan times Slavic people worshipped Sun as one of Gods, named Ярило [yarilo], from ярый [yaryi] - "strong, fierce". Surely, such an important character, giving people light and warmness, was loved and called "beautiful". Also, one of old Russian princes Vladimir the Great (958—1015) had a nickname Владимир Красное Солнышко (солнышко is a diminutive from солнце), which was given to him by people who believed in his god-like personality.
Красная девица [krasnaya devitsa] - a beautiful maiden
Is красная (or красна as a short form) девица some weird red-colored person? Of course no (though on picture above one is wearing red clothes - as we remember, the fanciest ones). This is just how a pretty young girl was called like. This phraseologism was very popular, and often came in pair with добрый молодец [dobryi molodec] - "a handsome lad".
By the way,
добрый is not so simple word also! Literally you can translate it as "kind", but that's not the whole pack of it's meanings. Want to reveal them all? Follow my tumblr and see one of my posts coming soon!
Today I'm going on with my series of mythical and mythological creatures of Russians and other Slavic nations.The special guest of the day will be домовой [domovoy] - "a home-master", from дом [dom] - "a house"; "a home".
Домовой may be today's the most known character among his fellows — home and nature spirits, that were worshipped by old Slavic people. He's been represented as a good-humoured, nice and neat little person, who helps a home owner and his family with everyday business.
Just look, for example, at the soviet cartoon named "Приключения домовёнка Кузи" [priklyucheniya domovyonka kuzi] - "Adventures of Kuzya the little home-master", which is translated for some reason as "Adventures of a Little Brownie", though brownies are definetly other type of characters, cannot be just paralleled with домовой. Though it's main character is a naughty, sometimes freakish and even sociopatic one, he still is a loyal friend for a little girl, protecting her of any problem.
Watch the cartoon with English subtitles: https://youtu.be/uHQ820mRocs
Also, in every Russian town at tourist area you can see a lot of fantasy souvenires, representing домовой, like these:
They are supposed to bring wealth to an owner's family. Sometimes it looks kinda cringy, especially when they manage to combine an old slavic folk character with dollars and euros as a symbol of wealth, as seen at picture 1.
Anyway. Let's see, what a real Slavic домовой looks like.
Here's Ivan Bilibin again, and his marvellous art of a traditional домовой, representing most of this characer's features.
Домовой lives under a Russian stove or around it, also in a so-named красный угол [krasnyi ugol] - "a red corner", that's how was called the most distant from the entrance corner of the house, where usually icons and relics are placed. He can appear in an animal form (usually a weasel, a cat, a rooster, a rat) or in an approximately human form. What separates him from real humans - is fur (домовой usually is completely or almost completely covered with fur, sometimes the same colour as the home owner's hair) and ears (he can have a kind of animal upstanding ears or just one of them). The more fur he had, the more wealth was promised to a family; poor people had a naked home spirit. Домовой in a human form may have a portrait likeness to some of the home owner's ancestors. Somewhere people believed that домовой was a reincarnation of some of the former inhabitants of the house, for ex., the first family member who entered a brand-new built house, should become it's домовой after he dies.
Домовой was supposed to help his people in some household, like: making supplies, grooming animals (especially horses, cleaning them with a brush and braiding their manes). Also he warns a home owner of some trouble: fires, crop failures, or cattle deaths, and so on. Of course, only in case people are behaving good as set in traditional values. Otherwise - if you're lazy, or scruffy, or quarrelsome - домовой can punish you by sending nightmares (sometimes sitting on your chest and choking you), stealing or hiding your property, tormenting your cattle, so cows stop giving milk and horses are not able to work.
To make a домовой kind you should (as in case of kikimora) leave offerings for him: bread and salt, milk, coins etc.; also you shouldn't occupy his favourite place; and of course, if you're moving, you should take care of inviting your домовой to move with you to a new house. Домовой is bound both to persons and a place (remember Russian изба [izba] is a house supposed for many generations to live in), that's why any moving is a great stress for him. Sometimes after moving to a new place you may face an old owner's домовой. In that case you should gently persuade him to move after his house owners, and then invite your own домовой to take his place.
These days we all are surviving a great shock, some terrifying feeling we were never supposed to have at 21st century, at today's enlightened time, when humanistic values seem to reign all over the world.
But shit happens. That's all I have to say of what is going on around Russian-Ukrainian conflict today. Though it's not today when it had started. Anyway. What's going on right now, should never be. When some government leaders are not able to settle a situation, citizens shouldn't suffer.
What I want to say to all of you today (and I'd love if you listen to me carefully).
1. That's not our war.
I've NEVER knew any Russian person saying "смерть хохлам" [smert' khokhlam] - "death to Ukrainians" (хохол [khokhol] - "a tuft", a slang name for Ukrainians, descending from a traditional Ukrainian hairstyle, firstly seen at 1644; as well as Ukrainians has a slang name for Russians москаль [moscal'] - "a Moscow resident" in a distorted way). Listen carefully please one more time. We. Don't. Want. Any of Ukrainians. To be slayed. No one of us wants. Except, maybe, some violent freaks, which are rare as well as in any other country. Try to remember your neighbours, relatives, some aquaintances: surely you'll find a person or two who say any problem should be solved with a shotgun, not conversations. So do we. We have radicals. Not more, not less than you have. But that's not about ordinary people consider to be normal.
2. I'm not apologizing for being Russian.
For speaking Russian, for loving Russia and every little beautiful thing about it. I know some of international communities' members now are banning every Russian person at their friendlist. Everyone of you can feel free to do the same. But I refuse to feel guilty for some shit which was never concerted with me. I am a Russian. I am proud to be. Because Russia is much more, unspeakable much more than today's actions of it's leader. Who is just a human with his human's life and weaks and challenges — while Russia has thousands years of stress and disorder and falling down and rising up again and hope and love and faith and struggle and centuries-old longing for peace.
Russia is my Родина [rodina]: from родить [rodit'] - "to gave birth". Russia is my отчизна [otchizna] and отечество [otechestvo] - from отец [otets] - "a father". All or this literally is "the Fatherland". I won't betray it. Anytime, anyway.
I'm a Russian. I'm scared. I love you. Be wise.
P.S. Some pics for your attention. This is a very old one of me. 2008, an International Air Show at Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, Russia. I'm crazy about planes and consider Russian aircraft designers ones of the world's best (for ex, BE-200, a Russian "flying boat" is an unique aircraft being able to extinguish a forest fire in a phenomenonal time), and never miss a single biennale Air Show since 2003.
And this one is from year of 2019. Me and my friends and a part of my beautiful country. Karelia, the White sea, after being 10 days on a stone shore of an unhabited island while a great storm - and finally rescued back to a mainland.
P. P. S. If you're Russian, please reblog using #not apologizing for being Russian. We shouldn't, really. God bless us all.
Hi there, dear followers! As I promised, I start a new series of slavic mythology. Mostly Russian, because I'm really not educated in Western Slavic culture. But it will be curious anyway, I promise))
The first creature I want to introduce you, is кикимора [kikimora]. I wasn't quite right at my recent post of кулиги, when I said old Russians believed that distant forest glades were occupied with леший and кикимора. Because кикимора болотная [kikimora bolotnaya], "a swamp kikimora" (see below) is just a later interpretation, the last 2-3 centuries, no more than. And in really old, pagan times kikimora was one of the home spirits, as well as домовой [domovoi]. Today I'll tell you of this original version.
So, kikimora is a female occult being, looking like this:
The first picture by Ivan Bilibin (1876 - 1942), the Russian artist, famous for his illustration to folk tales. Others by modern artists
She has bird feet, also a bird beak or a very long nose. Traditionally she is considered (as any other home spirit) to help some good hosts (in the case - hostesses) and to punish some lazy or spoiled ones. The caption by Ivan Bilibin to his picture above was: "Sleep; kikimora is going to weave instead of you".
Of course, in order to make friends with your own home kikimora, you have to obey some rules. As any other home spirit, kikimora loves treats, so don't forget to leave her some fresh dairy and/or bread; be nice and neat and hard-working; and always pay on your debts. There was documentally confirmed practice: when some masters were occupied to construct a Russian stove (they were called печники, sing. печник [pechnik], a stove-master) and didn't get the reward by the agreement, they had may to "put a kikimora into the stove". For that purpose, they had got a neck of a glass bottle and put it inside a chimney of a stove for no-one to see. So every time when a strong wind blows, all the household hears an infernal howling. So the host and the hostess were thinking a kikimora is angry for them not to pay to the stove-masters; also, after the payment and some schamancraft with the stove, the howling had ended.
For today, Russian people have started to forget, what a kikimora (and any other occult beings of old Russia) is. Now we'd rather meet a "кикимора болотная" (see above) looking like that in a best case, I guess:
So one can call that an unpleasant, scruffy, feisty and ugly woman. By his/her side, the place of this woman is not among people, but among frogs and leeches and other swamp creatures. This is extremely offencive, so keep it on mind! That's how a kind and helpful home spirit turns into something unattractive and creepy.
But anyway. Slavic mythical personalities are still alive as they are (maybe useful for some Wikka and/or Pagan/Neopagan adepts, for I'm one of them :)). Wanna know more of them? Follow my tmblr and discover some more.
The Russian poet Pyotr Yershov had made it before it had become mainstream)))
Вот въезжает на поляну
Прямо к морю-окияну;
Поперёк его лежит
Чудо-юдо рыба-кит.
Все бока его изрыты,
Частоколы в рёбра вбиты,
На хвосте сыр-бор шумит,
На спине село стоит;
Мужички на губе пашут,
Между глаз мальчишки пляшут,
А в дубраве, меж усов,
Ищут девушки грибов.
It's from the famous fairytale "Конёк-горбунок" [konyok-gorbunok] - "The hunchback horse" (1830). It's about the little horse — unsightly, but magical — who helps his owner to become a prince. One of the quests he should complete for it is to help the old Whale, who is carrying the whole village on his back, and due to this cannot go down underwater. It all ends up well: people from the village depart, so the Whale can take a rest on the sea bottom.
У черта на куличках [u chyorta na kulichkah] - "at the devil's babkas"
This is my "Russian idiom of the day" column, and today let's see some of my favourite kind of weird Russian phrases... lookin weird just until you know it's origin. As you know, I love idioms which are not clear even to Russian people, so right now is one of them.
The meaning of it is - "somewhere very distantly of known places".
«У них контора — где-то у черта на куличках, от конечной метро еще десять минут на автобусе» — "They have their office in a kind of weird distant place; I should go there by subway up to terminate station, and then catch a bus to go 10 minutes more"
Some Russian people say it as «у черта на куличиках», which sounds much alike to «на куличках». But куличики and кулички are definitely not the same!
If one is у черта на куличиках, it may mean one of two things:
1. The devil (also, I said in one of my former posts, черт is not the Devil himself, but a kind of demon, an evil occult power, usually impictured having horns, a long tail and goat legs) is having a dinner, where the main dish is куличи (pl. from кулич, also the diminutive plural form would be куличики). Кулич is a special type of sweet bread, baked mostly at Easter. I've got known it can be named in English a Babka. That's what Russian Easter куличи aka babkas look like:
2. The devil (see before) is having a beach party, and invites you for making куличики out of sand. That's another idiomatic thing (in fact it's not, if you remember what кулич is). Because when Russian children are playing in a sandbox, building some constructions out of sand, basically it's called лепить куличики [lepit' kulichiki] - "to make babkas". We dont' say "to make sandcastles" until you really make an effort to do on sand something looking like a real castle. Otherwise - if you just take a plastic bucket, fill it with sand, then turn it upside down and remove a bucket - it's called лепить куличики. Just because the shape which is got looks much alike to a babka.
So, anyway. We can think that this idiom tells us of some devil's party, sand of eating or anyway. But it DOES NOT. So, let's see what mysterious куличики really are.
In old Russia, almost entirely covered with woods (part of them in East is famous Taiga), there was some special attitude to forest and everything about it. There was special names for some parts of the forest. One of them described a glade, located deep inside the forest, far from people's houses at the enter of the woods.
These glades were meant to be enchanted. People believed that evil powers (such as черт, also леший [leshiyi] - "a wood-goblin", and кикимора [kikimora] - "a wood-maid") were reigning there. The name for these glades was кулиги [kuligi], pl.; sing. would be кулига [kuliga]. Diminutive for this word (also plural) was кулички. Exactly the same we see in the idiom.
Not a babka party. Not a sand party. Just a distant and spooky place, maybe occupied with occult beings; which, therefore, can be used for living and business. Just because one day people became brave enough to go into woods and look for кулиги and build there houses for their families. That were the people who lived у черта на куличках - very very far away from the main settlement. Now we can say this (if we are Moscow residents) of someone who lives in Бирюлёво [biryulyovo] or Бутово [butovo] districts; and as for some St.Petersburgh residents (maybe I'm totally wrong and should be punished for that by my St. Peter's sweetheart, hehe), it could be Купчино [kupchino] and Автово [avtovo] districts.
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P.S. I've just figured out that some Russian folk creatures may be interesting to my foregn followers too! Just right from the post of Karachun, who've been a cruel God of Winter and ended up as a Russian Santa, a nice kid's friend. SOOOOO. Would you like me to make some Russian occult beings posts? DM or comment "+" if you do!
Today is a nice day for some Q/A posts, isn't it? So let me convey to my dear American friend, @baliffcastorskybound
Q: What are some fun things to do where you live in Russia?
A: What kind of fun things are you interested in? Sports, tourism, just everyday activities? It's a bit hard to imagine some special Russian activity, which wouldn't be in US, so I need some tips)
Q: What kind of outdoor activities like hiking or cycling are there near where you are? Do you got to church? I love choir singing. You married?
A: Well, I live in suburbs of Moscow, and here people live mostly in small towns, but you can walk about 30 minutes or less and find yourself in woods or field. So any of what you've named is possible. Also in winter you can go skiing in the woods or skating on a lake (if someone have shoveled the snow). And in spring there is famous outdoor activity named shashlyiking, I've got a longread post of it, you may find it in this blog). I'm not visiting church (at least, not regular), but the church singers sometimes come to me) because I'm a vocal trainer. And yes, I'm married. My husbands name is Matthew, in Russian form it's Matvey, but sometimes he introduce himself in an American way)
Q: I envy you. I am stuck in the city where I live but I would give anything to be so close to fields and lakes. Cities are dirty and smelly. Real people live where the air is clear and the water is clean. Makes you strong to live in the country. You are very lucky.
A: It's not quite a real country here. Because we still live in blocks of flats, not in our own houses, and it makes me sad. I have never lived in my own house, where I could do whatever I want. Maybe in few years we will sell our flat and move to countryside, but it's not easy at all. As for me, I can work almost anywhere, but it will be hard for my husband to get a job in the country.
One more Russian "idiom of the day" for you! As usual, one with an unobvious origin, which may surprise even Russians.
It means "a sloppy/messy look". When we say "он/она был/была в затрапезном виде", we mean somebody's clothes was untidy, or old, or just too cheap. It's logical to assume it descends from "за трапезой" [za trapezoi] - "at meals". Like, you know, if you are at your own home at the dinner table, you may wear whatever you feel comfortable to wear, without thinking of how does it look. Most Russians think so, I guess. But it's totally wrong! Read more to know why)
The true ancestor of this phrase is a proper name - Иван Затрапезнов [ivan zatrapeznov]. That was the name of Russian merchant and manufacturer who was given Большая Ярославская мануфактура [bol'shaya yaroslavskaya manufaktura] - The Great Yaroslavl' manufactory, founded by by Peter the Great himself at 1722 in the town of Yaroslavl'.
It had become one of largest Russian textile factories, it's production still is valuable today. But that happened later. Firstly the main production of it was some cheap, rough, scruffy fabric, which was slang-named after the owner of the manufactory: затрапеза [zatrapeza]. Due to it's cheapness it had become very popular. But for rich or noble people it was unacceptable to wear clothes made of it. So, "у тебя затрапезный вид" meant "your clothes look like they are made of затрапеза", what, in it's turn, meant "you shouldn't appear in polite society looking like this". So today we mean the same thing saying so, without knowing of how did it come to this.
Wish you to be comfortable and look awesome at the same time every day of your life!) Love you all :3
Mr. Biden is peeing all over elevators cabins in Russia! Lol, nevermind, justa new column at my Russian lifestyle blog
Allright then, dear followers and readers! We' ve got through it! The New Year has come, so I wish everyone of you a New Happiness, and some New Horizons, and some New Love and Peace and Creativity! And let me also start a new column, for one of you — an amazing follower named @baliffcastorskybound — had made a few questions for me last year. So today you are welcome to have a look at some internal Russian POV of various issues - and also to find out something you personally want to know about Russian mindset. Let's get started then!
Q: As an American I was raised with a certain "bias" against Russian which as an adult I have found to be totally absurd. Is there still any Cold War sentiment still circulating in Russia? Sorry if this question is too sensitive, you don't have to answer.
A: It's allrigh) I can answer that some people definitely share that vibes, but most of them are uneducated, low-class, lazy and just stupid, as well as agressive. They like to blame Americans in everything bad what is in whole Russia and in their own lives in particular. We usually make fun of them, saying they are sure that it's mr. Biden (formerly mr. Trump, more formerly mr. Obama) who had peed all over elevator cabin in their house)))
And what "bias" is? it's an unfamiliar word to me)
Q: "Bias" is a word used to describe dislike or prejudice. I'm glad to hear that most Russians like America. Have you ever been to America? I love that saying by the way, but it probably was Biden that peed in their elevator. lol.
Russian winter holidays' features - part 4. New Year TV shows and movies
Hi there, my dear followers! Congratulations on the New Year! It has come already, but I still didn't post my part 4 of Russian New Year review — sorry, had lots of work to do these days(( Today I'll try to exonerate myself, so have a look at this post (including links to some true Russian video content!)
So,
What do Russians do while they are sitting at the New Year table, eating, drinking and talking? Traditionally, they watch TV. They do it also while preparing for the New Year, and while celebrating it's first days, so here will be some New Year TV content suitable for all winter holidays. And let's start from the most historical New Year movie, produced at 1956, named
1. Карнавальная ночь [karnaval'naya noch'] - "The Carnival Night"
See the full movie with English subtitles: https://youtu.be/3jg21SZJ8g8
It's a nice and bright musical comedy, which had made famous one of the most beloved Soviet actresses Lyudmila Gurchenko. It's plot is around a New Year celebration at some cultural center, one of the lots of alike in Soviet Russia. The director of the center wants to replace the entertainment program with some boring astronomy lectures and classical music performed by a choir of elderly people. Bur the actors and staff disagree. They do a lot of tricks to fool the director and meet the New Year joyfully, as they wish.
The most famous song of it, «Пять минут» [pyat' minut] - "Five Minutes", dedicated to upcoming New Year midnight, is one of Russian festive symbols for this season.
2. Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром [ironiya sud'by ili s lyogkim parom] - "Irony Of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath"
See the full movie with English subtitles: https://youtu.be/luHarTc90QA
The second part of this movie's name is an idiom, literally meaning "congratulations on a light steam". This is a traditional Russian phrase adressed to someone who is having or just have had bath at баня [banya] - a kind of Russian sauna with hot water steam in the air. According to the movie's plot, a company of male friends has their own tradition: every year at December 31st they visit баня together. The year described they had too much drinks at their meeting. As a result, one of friends who should go from Moscow to St. Petersburg by plane, didn't get there, and the main character of the movie travelled instead of him (just imagine, at 1975 one had no need to show his or her passport to get on board; a travel ticket was enough). Arriving to St. Petersburg, being totally drunk, the main character didn't realize he is not in Moscow, getting a taxi to his home address, and the irony of fate was that: St. Petersburg suburbs has a street named exactly the same as in Moscow, and looking the same, due to later Soviet trend of construction standard buildings in every town. He arrived to "his" house, got into "his" flat (for the door locks also was mostly standard and his key worked) and even then noticed no difference, because furniture and decor of Soviet homes looked very much standard too. He fell asleep to get sober. And then there came the true owner of the flat — a single lady. All the rest is about their communication and relationship, developing right at the New Year night.
3. Чародеи [charodei] - "Sorcerers"
See the full movie; unfortunately, no English subtitles found: https://youtu.be/3JZkMKubq4o
This New Year movie is based on script by famous Russian sci-fi novellists Arkadii and Boris Strugatsky (more known as Strugatsky brothers). Some details are borrowed from their novel named «Понедельник начинается в субботу» [ponedel'nik nachinaetsya v subboty] - "Monday Starts On Saturday", but this movie still is not an screen version of this book, but a particular story. The main place of action is Научный универсальный институт необыкновенных услуг (НУИНУ) - The Universal Science Institute For Unusual Service, which parodies Soviet technical and technology research institutes, being very popular across all the Soviet Union (also, it's acronym sounds like «ну и ну!» - an exclamation of surprise, which may be approximately translated as "wow"). The main characters of the movie are a young female laboratory head of this Institute, and her boyfriend. Due to some complicated situation (including jealousy from her superior) she was put a magical curse on her, making her cold and bitchy, forgetting her boyfriend and their love. But a true love kiss, performed before the New Year coming, may ruin the evil spell.
So, it's all movies... and what about TV shows?
4. Голубой огонёк [goluboy ogonyok] - "Little Blue Light"
Firstly that was an entertainment musical show running every Saturday since April of 1962. But then it had become a festive and holiday show only, and after few more years — a specific New Year show. Year by year it had been gathering all the celebrities of the time (first picture: Russian cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova and Yuri Gagarin; second picture: Oleg Popov, the famous Soviet clown nicknamed Sunbeam; 3rd and 4th pictures: modern singers, actors, comics). The show includes some comedy, some talks, and very much various music, pop songs mostly.
Today what is called Голубой огонёк is running on the 1st Channel (the main TV channel of Russia) only. But in fact, every TV channel has it's own New Year show, looking almost similar. Except some details: for example, at the Culture Channel you can hear more likely some classical music or romance ballads, than pop music; at sports channels there would be interviews with some famous sportsmen and trainers alternating with music, etc.
See the last year Голубой огонёк-2021 from the 1st Channel: https://youtu.be/lP54tzqrboc
...or some historical episodes of it:
1963: https://youtu.be/RckQ6gUucbc
1970: https://youtu.be/fp4_bFxEnL0
1981: https://youtu.be/aHf31EBQEoM
And, after all, every single Russian family surely watches
5. The New Year President speech
It starts on every TV channel approximately at 5 minutes before midnight. Up to this time, everybody and everything is ready to the New Year coming. Champagne (a must-have, see my recent food post) is already in glasses or in a bottle ready to bang open; everybody is listening carefully. The President of Russia says some words of the last year, of the challenges we have faced and achievements of Russian people have got. Then he congratulates us on the New Year and says some wishes. After that, a few seconds before midnight, the TV screen shows Куранты [kuranty] - the main clock of Russia, located at the Spasskaya tower of Moscow Kremlin:
It starts it's beat of 12. And with the last beat the New Year has been officially started! The Russian anthem plays, as people make their toasts and congratulations (as for me, I always sing out our anthem, 'cause I consider it very beautiful, also I love singing; but almost no-one else in Russia does so, and nobody stands up while the anthem plays).
Kuranty beat and the national anthem of Russia at the New Year TV: https://youtu.be/o6_Hyg5z9ms
So, that's what you can see on TV, if you celebrate the New Year in a Russian family. Maybe this is the last post of the series. But maybe I'll try hard and make one more postscript about Старый Новый год [staryi novyi god] - "The Old New Year", yes, it means literally what it means))) how could it be — the answer is in one more Russian tradition, which is a kinda weird)
Anyway — stay tuned! And one more time — Happy New Year!
A wooden nesting doll called «матрёшка» (matryoshka) is maybe the first thing you think about when you think of Russian souvenirs. You may get the impression it's a native Russian toy. You know, kinda since ancient times smudgy-faced peasant children played with it while sitting in «изба» (Russian hut) upon a large and warm «русская печь» (Russian stove, the center of a hut, which lower part was used for cooking food and warming the room, also it's upper one worked as a warm bed for some family members).
It's nothing to do with the truth!
The first nesting doll was made in Russia only about 1890, when the upper class of Russian society became tired of European fashion trends they followed for centuries since Peter the Great. The new trend named "Russian Style", based on traditional Russian ornaments, costume design etc. became incredibly popular not only in Russia, but across Europe in common. It's no exxageration to say that matryoshka originally was created as a Russian souvenir to impress foreigners, definetly not for Russian children to play with.
But the idea of nesting dolls was not even Russian. The prototype for matryoshka was a Japanese wooden figure, representing Seven Gods of Happiness. It was brought to Russia by the wife of Savva Mamontov, the famous businessman an patron of arts.
See the full post
33 notes • Posted 2021-03-17 17:08:43 GMT
#4
Hi there! Today I've realized my blog consists of long reads almost completely. So I need some short and easy posts of Russian language and culture — like "word of the day", you know. But I reckon "word of the day" posts are too boring. Thats why I open a series dedicated to most curious Russian idioms!
And the first one will be
Дойти до ручки
[doiti do ruchki], lit. "to reach a handle"
Means "to find oneself in a very bad situation, to hit the bottom". The origin of it's idiom is related to old Russian bread named калач [kalach]. In XVI—XVIIth centuries it was considered a delicacy (made of wheat only, without adding more cheap rye flour). One could buy it in a town while visiting a fair or the like. Also it was padlock-shaped, like that:
See the full post
41 notes • Posted 2021-03-23 15:43:06 GMT
#3
Icicle, cuckoo and umbrella: reverse derivatives in Russian
Today I'm gonna tell you of 3 very interesting and very different words in Russian. What have they in common is that all of them are reverse derivatives. It means that they descend from words, that seem like their derivatives (diminutives, to be precise), but in fact are not. So let's look through examples:
1. Зонт [zont] - an umbrella
The most interesting thing of this word is that in modern Russian language it is absolutely literal and commonly used, despite of it's origin. And the origin was the total linguistic mistake - but made too long ago, that's all the point))
So the word what зонт is descending from, is «zonnedek» (Dutch, "a sun-protecting tent over a deck"). It was one of navy terms, which was brought to Russia by Peter the Great. The first Russian Emperor was extremely fond of Europe, it's people's culture and skills, especially shipbuilding and navigation. So zonnedek had become a trendy thing not only among sailors. Some noble citizens had started to use portable sun tents - umbrellas - calling them so. But very few of them was educated enough to understand Dutch, so very soon zonnedek had transformed to зонтик [zontik] - which had sounded a more familiar to Russian people. Then -ик had been determined as a diminutive suffix (like in ключ - ключик, брат - братик), and of course eliminated in order for word to sound more respectable. So today we have зонт in every dictionary, despite of using it mostly for protection not of the sun - zonne - but of the rain. And the vast majority of Russian people have never heard of зонтик as the original form of this word. We use it, but as a normal diminutive. «Девочке подарили красивый яркий зонтик» - "The little girl was given a nice vivid umbrella", but «Мужчина держал в руке стильный черный зонт, явно недешевый» - "The man was holding a stylish black umbrella, looking definitely pricey".
2. Сосуля [sosulya] - an icicle
See the full post
43 notes • Posted 2021-12-16 00:34:22 GMT
#2
How to call a Russian by name without looking stupid: various names for various cases feat. the greatest fuckup of 20th Century Fox
Last year while visiting India I've met a beautiful American lady named Shawny in a Delhi hostel. I introduced myself as Настя [nastya]. Then, while talking of lots of stuff, I mentioned that my full name is Анастасия [anastasiya]. Shawny had got very curious about it and asked me, if there are another forms of this name. So I'd started telling, and up to the end she was completely shocked :-) She said: "What kind of long and complicated names you Russians have! I'm Shawny, or ms. Smith, and that's all!" :-) Today I'd like to tell you of this great variety of Russian names too, using as an example my own name.
So, I'm Анастасия. That's my full given name. But in common life there are two other most frequently used forms.
One of them is the most formal. It includes full given name and patronymic. Russian patronymics form from a person's father name, using the «-вич» (m.) or «-вна» (f.) suffixes (generally; there also may be variations due to particular names). My father's name was Михаил [mikhail] (just like in my recent bear post, yeah :-)). So my name with a patronymic is Анастасия Михайловна [anastasiya mikhailovna].
That's how people call each other in formal environment. For ex., if you come to some government or business office to meet some respectable person (let his full name be Иван Иванович Иванов [ivan ivanovich ivanov]), you should say «Мне назначена встреча с Иваном Ивановичем» ("I've got an appointment with Ivan Ivanovich") — while in English you'd rather say "I've got an appointment with mr. Ivanov".
"Mr. Ivanov" is literally translated to Russian as «господин Иванов» [gospodin ivanov] — and actually some people in Russia of early 1990th started using it due to the new trend for borrowing Western lifestyle and communication models. But as it's a calque, it sounds a bit comical, and we almost never use it for today.
See the full post
50 notes • Posted 2021-03-26 16:44:46 GMT
#1
Anatomy of гопник. Russian hooligans and where to find them (better not to)
Гопник [gopnik] is a member of a very salient Russian antisocial low-class subculture. Гопники [gopniki] (pl. from «гопник») may be translated as "hooligans", "gangsters", "bandits", "bullies", "punks", "white trash" and so on; in fact they are all of it in various proportions.
It all began in the end of XIXth century in St. Petersgurg, with creating a special institution named «Городское общество призора» [gorodskoye obschestvo prizora], "The Municipal Society for Supervision". It's "clients" were беспризорники [besprizorniki] — "waifs", the children and teenagers without parents, who lived on streets, made gangs and got their living by stealing and banditry. They were meant to be reformed and reeducated in order to return them to normal lifestyle; but it was not so easy. After the October Revolution of 1917 the society building was handed over for Городское общежитие пролетариата [gorodskoe obschezhitie proletariata], "The Municipal Dormitory for Proletarians" — with the most of it's inhabitants.
As you can see, the acronym for both institutions was ГОП.
Just cannot help but share our current weather)) -21°C (-5.8 °F) today in Moscow! I look like a typical Russian, as shown in Hollywood movies, wearing my mink fur hat and long coat))
Actually, it's quite an abnormal frost for this location. Most part of winter we have about -5 ... -10 °C, sometimes the whole winter is about 0 °C - though some foreigners think all Russia is cold and covered with snow all year long. But sometimes it is frosty in Russia, that's true. That's why we have so many names and slang names for frost except the common мороз [moroz]:
стужа [stuzha] - from студить [studit'] - "to make cold"
колотун [kolotun], sl. - from колотить [kolotit'] - "to beat", maybe descends from the beat of one's teeth when trembling from cold
дубак, дубняк [dubak, dubnyak], sl. - from дубеть, задубеть [dubet', zadubet'] - "to become firm of frost"
and so on.
Anyway, today's frost will not stay for long - just for 1-2 days. And I think at least few days in winter should be a real winter weather, so it's better than slush and mud all winter long.
Russian winter holidays' features - part 3. New Year meals
As I said in the 1st post of this series, most Russians prefer to celebrate the New Year at home. So you gotta know what Russian home parties look like. Generally they consist of what is called застолье [zastol'e], from «за столом» [za stolom] - "at the dinner table". It may be translated as "a banquet", but it's not precise, because what we call банкет [banket], "a banquet" is at restaraunt or cafe only, but застолье usually is at one's home.
So, one of the most important parts of celebratond the New Year is festive meals. Many (maybe even most) families in Russia have a tradition to cook lots of food for the New Year table. LOTS. OF. FOOD. In Russia we have the таз [taz] word - it means a large bowl, used for washing clothes or the like. So, the popular phrase of тазик салата ("bowl of salad") very often is not an exaggeration, especially when застолье is set for big family with many relatives. And that's not about some light vegetable salad! Below is described, for example, traditional Russian Olivier salad, which is very caloric.
Also Russian families often stock up delicacies for the New Year table. Sometimes they start doing it in month or more before. That habit definitely goes from USSR, when deficit of diverse and tasty foodstuff made people hunt for some копченая колбаса [kopchyonaya kolbasa] - summer sausages - or красная рыба krasnaya ryba], lit. "red fish" - salmon. For it was rare and expensive, it was not everyday food, so it was kept for a festive table to delight the hosts and surprise their guests. Today you can buy various delicacies in almost any store everyday (unless you're living in a remote country). But the tradition is still alive. So we make jokes of this, saying that when our fridge is stuffed with food before December 31st, we say: Ничего не трогай, это на Новый год [nichego ne trogai, eto na novyi god] - "do not touch, it's for the New Year"; and when the same is after it, we say: Ешь скорее, а то все испортится [esh' skoree, a to vsyo isportitsya] - "c'mon, hurry up to finish it, otherwise it will get rotten")) And we actually consume the food left from the New Year celebration at least the first 2-3 days of January, that's true))
The caption is: The "don't touch , it's for the New Year" season is officially open
So, we have reviewed the meal issue in summary, so let's see, what kinds of food have almost every Russian family on their festive table.
1. Салат оливье [salat oliv'ye] - Olivier salad
This dish has become a real symbol for the New Year celebration in Russia. Idk why, maybe because sausage in it's recipe was one of meat products that one could get rather easily. The fact is the original Olivier salad by recipe of the beginning of XXth century has nothing to do with modern Olivier - quite cheap, easily cooked, nutritive meal.
It's main ingridients are:
some special sausage called Докторская [doktorskaya]. Yes, it descends from "doctor") The point is in early Soviet Russia doctors had been recommended it for dieting instead of other sorts of sausages, cause it's low-fat. It looks like that:
and also:
boiled potatoes
green peas
marinated cucumbers
hard-boiled eggs
boiled carrots
somebody also add green or bulb onions. I don't like onions, so I do not.
Everything diced and mixed, seasoned with mayonnaise.
2. Селёдка под шубой [selyodka pod shuboi]
I've tried hard, but seems there is no appropriate translation for this salad) and the literal is "herring under a fur coat")))) don't worry, ot doesn't include any fur))) "The fur coat" here is a name for the rest of the salad, except herring itself, which is layered upon it. So these layers are:
boiled potatoes (diced or mashed)
onions (diced finely)
boiled eggs (grated or diced finely)
boiled carrots (grated)
boiled beets (grated)
mayonnaise (on every or almost every layer)
And under everything of this - filleted herring, chopped finely. Yummy 😋 Sometimes we make thin layers of everything and repeat them all twice - so it's even more delicious!
3. Нарезка [narezka] (from нарезать, "to slice") - sliced meat and fish
See above of the stocked up delicacies. That's time for them. We usually have at the New Year table at least 2 plates: one with slices of sausages, carbonado, carpaccio etc. of various sorts; other one with slices of salmon and sometimes any other delicacy fish, for ex. butterfish. Sometimes there is also a cheese plate.
A total must-have for the New Year table! Even those who consider оливье and селёдка под шубой a lowbrow food, too heavy and rough, definitely won't refuse some salmon roe on a buttered slice of a baguette. Btw, as you can see, we don't use the salmon (лосось, [losos']) word in it's name. Just "red roe". And famous caviar, a sturgeon roe, is "black roe". Everything is very logical, isn't it?)
5. Мандарины [mandariny] - tangerines
This tradition goes from USSR too. For a long time tangerines had been the only exotic fruit Russian could buy, and only in winter - before the New Year exactly. Today we can buy it every day, but many people remember of them just before the winter holidays. The smell of tangerines is a kinda official New Year smell in Russia) as well as smell ot the New Year fir tree.
6. Шампанское [shampanskoe] - champagne
The essential New Year beverage is, of course, champagne. If one prefers any other wine or strong drinks, he or she may have it at the New Year table, but at least one glass of champagne - right at first seconds of the year - is required. Since 90th we have even "children's champagne" - soft fizzy fruit-flavoured drink in bottles of remarkable shape with special corks. As I refuse alcohol at all for today, I guess I will have such for myself at upcoming New Year party)
That's all the main parts of новогоднее застолье I could remember. Of course that's not all. Every family adds something as they wish. Some have a special festive dish of their own, for example, in our family it's chicken stewed in sour cream. That's a hot meal; another popular hot meal is French meat: it means beef or pork steaks baked with cheese, mushrooms and sometimes tomato, served with mashed potatoes, and idk what does it have to do with France)) But these are details, after all. Anyway, now you know the most traditional Russian dishes for New Year party, and you may have it on your own table if you wish to feel like a real Russian!)
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