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Russian idioms can put noodles on ears, turn a fly into an elephant, or suggest that your hands cannot reach a task. Learn the figurative meaning first: a literal translation helps you remember the image, but it is not the meaning to use in conversation. Here are ten vivid expressions, with practical examples.
1. Не в свое́й таре́лке
Literal image: Not on one’s own plate.
Meaning: To feel uneasy, awkward, or out of place. It is not simply any bad mood.
Example: На новой работе я чувствую себя не в своей тарелке.
I feel out of place at my new job.
This expression is a calque from French. The word assiette has several senses, including “plate” and “position / balance.” French ne pas être dans son assiette describes being ill at ease. Gramota’s phraseology reference explains the connection.
2. Ве́шать лапшу́ на у́ши
Literal image: To hang noodles on someone’s ears.
Meaning: To deceive someone or feed them lies. Usually informal and critical.
Example: Не вешай мне лапшу на уши!
Do not try to fool me!
3. Заруби́ть на носу́
Literal image: To make a notch on one’s nose.
Meaning: To remember something firmly. As an imperative, заруби себе на носу can sound stern.
Example: Заруби себе на носу: без билета тебя не пустят.
Remember this well: they will not let you in without a ticket.
4. Клева́ть но́сом
Literal image: To peck with one’s nose.
Meaning: To nod off while sitting, with the head dropping as someone becomes sleepy.
Example: После бессонной ночи он клевал носом на лекции.
After a sleepless night, he was nodding off during the lecture.
5. Води́ть за нос
Literal image: To lead someone by the nose.
Meaning: To deceive or mislead someone, for example with promises that are not kept.
Example: Он обещал вернуть деньги, но долго водил меня за нос.
He promised to return the money, but strung me along for a long time.
6. Дать зуб
Literal image: To give a tooth.
Meaning: To swear or insist that something is true. Informal and sometimes joking; the common spoken form is зуб даю.
Example: Зуб даю, я видел его вчера!
I swear I saw him yesterday!
7. Ру́ки не дохо́дят
Literal image: The hands do not reach it.
Meaning: To have not got around to doing something, often because there is not enough time or energy. Доходить here is not translated as “walk.”
Example: У меня всё никак руки не доходят посмотреть этот сериал.
I still have not got around to watching this series.
8. Де́лать из му́хи слона́
Literal image: To make an elephant out of a fly.
Meaning: To exaggerate a small problem: to make a mountain out of a molehill.
Example: Не делай из мухи слона: это небольшая ошибка.
Do not make a mountain out of a molehill: it is a small mistake.
9. Показа́ть, где ра́ки зиму́ют
Literal image: To show where crayfish spend the winter.
Meaning: A threat to punish someone or teach them a lesson. This is not a friendly offer to show a place.
Example: Он пригрозил показать нарушителям, где раки зимуют.
He threatened to teach the rule-breakers a lesson.
10. Замори́ть червячка́
Literal image: To starve / kill off the little worm.
Meaning: To have a small snack and take the edge off your hunger. The figurative meaning differs from the literal image.
Example: До ужина ещё далеко. Давай заморим червячка.
Dinner is still a long way off. Let’s have a little snack.
Bonus: Э, а я?!
This conversational exclamation means “Hey, what about me?!” It is not a fixed idiom in the same sense as the expressions above. Э is an interjection, а is a conjunction, and я is the pronoun “I.” All three written letters are vowel letters, not consonants. Я represents two sounds at the beginning of this word, so letters and sounds are different things.
Practise the expressions
Choose one everyday expression and create a sentence about your own experience. Learn a whole phrase, including its case and preposition: чувствовать себя не в своей тарелке, водить кого-то за нос, or руки не доходят сделать что-то. Stress marks above are learning aids. For pronunciation, use a recorded model alongside our alphabet guide.
