Top Ten Russian Idioms

1. Russians don’t exaggerate, they

“make an elephant out of a fly.”

(delat iz muhi slona)

Americans are always,

“making mountains out of mole hills”

♠

2. A Russian won’t lie to you,

he’ll “hang noodles on your ears.”

(veshat laphu na ushi

Americans on the other hand will tell you

“I’m not pulling your leg”!

♣

3. A Russian doesn’t get overexcited, he

“jumps out of his pants.”

(vyprygnut iz shtanov)

An American will say,

“He has ants in his pants”

♥

4. Russians don’t drink alcohol, they

“put it behind the collar.”

(zalozhit za vorotnik)

Americans  don’t bother they just put it

“down the hatch”

(down the throat and into the belly)

♦

5. A Russian doesn’t say he’s in a crowded place,

he says he’s “like herring in the barrel.”

(kak seledka v bochke)

Americans will say,

“Look we are packed like a can of sardines”

♠

6. Russians don’t say you have an interesting

aspect to your character, they say you have a

“raisin.”

(izoominka)

Americans trying to be kind would say,

“Oh, your just a diamond in the rough”

♣

7. Russians don’t just study, they

“crunch the granite of science.”

(gryzt granit nauki)

On the other hand Americans will claim

“they are burning the candle at both ends”

♥

8. Russians don’t have a snack, they

“kill the worm.”

(zamorit cherviachka)

Snacking in America is called,

“Stuffing your face”

♦

9. A Russian doesn’t have a lot of experience in something,

he “has eaten a dog in that.”

(sobaku siel)

An American might say,

“That sounds like a bunch of sour grapes to me”

♠

10. A Russian isn’t clumsy, he is

“an elephant in a China shop.”

(slon v posudnoi lavke)

And we all know if you ask an American he’ll say,

“Like a Bull in a China shop”