A Few of My Favorite Russian Proverbs (with their literal translations)
- Большой секрет — знает весь свет. Big secret—the whole world knows.
- Борода не делает философом. A beard doesn’t make a philosopher.
- В темноте все кошки серы. All cats are gray in the dark.
- В Ту́лу со свои́м самова́ром не е́здят. No one brings a samovar to Tula. (Tula is famous as the city where samovars were manufactured. This is the equivalent of “Don’t bring coal to Newcastle.”)
- Волко́в боя́ться — в лес не ходи́ть. If you’re afraid of wolves, don’t go to the woods.
- Говорить правду — потерять дружбу. Tell the truth—lose friends.
- Доверя́й, но проверя́й. Trust, but verify.
- Долг платежо́м кра́сен. Debt is beautiful once it’s repaid.
- Доно́счику — пе́рвый кнут. The informer is whipped first.
- Друг познаётся в беде́. You get to know your friend in trouble. (A friend in need is a friend indeed.)
- Дру́жба дру́жбой, а де́нежкам счёт. Friendship is friendship, but count money.
- Знать всё — значит не знать ничего. To know everything is to know nothing.
- И у стен бывают уши. And even walls have ears.
- Когда́ де́ньги говоря́т, тогда́ пра́вда молчи́т. When money talks, truth shuts up.
- На чужо́м го́ре сча́стья не постро́ишь. One can’t build happiness upon another’s grief.
- Назва́лся гру́здем — полеза́й в ку́зов. If you called yourself a mushroom—get in the basket. (Sort of like, “don’t just talk the talk—walk the walk.”)
- Не ошиба́ется тот, кто ничего́ не де́лает. He that does nothing makes no mistakes.
NB: any translation mistakes are mine
USEFUL!!!
Very Important Addition, my favorite
Любовь не картошка, не выбросишь в окошко. LOVE IS NOT A POTATO YOU CANNOT THROW IT OUT A WINDOW (that is, love is not a small thing that is easy to get rid of)
!!!!!!!!!!!
For about TWENTY YEARS I have been wondering why, in the English-translated Chekhov play I read because it was on the summer reading list for my AP English class, someone says with no particularly enlightening context, “Death is not a potato.”
BUT THAT’S WHY, ISN’T IT. HE’S REFERENCING THAT PROVERB. LOVE IS NOT A POTATO; DEATH IS NOT A POTATO.
