7 untranslatable Russian expressions
Foreigners who are learning Russian might think that these expressions sound like onomatopoeia or just gibberish, but every Russian will immediately understand what’s being talked about. We’ll explain where 'shury-mury' and 'aty-baty' come from – and what they really mean.
1. Shury-moury
"She's making shury-mury with him" – it's clear that they’re in a love relationship. This expression dates from the 19th century, when French was the language of love in Russia. Indeed, even common young men who did not know French tried to learn a few beautiful phrases to impress the ladies of their heart. "Shury-moury" is a corruption of the French "cher amour", (literally translated "dearest love [of mine]"), these words might be repeated many times during a conversation of lovers who knew no other synonyms. But the expression was clearly influenced by the Turkic word shurmur – "confusion, racket". That’s why "shury-moury" today isn’t usually used when talking about a serious relationship.
2. Vas’-vas’
"Peasants of the Moscow region," a 19-th century drawing
The origin of this expression is obvious to any Russian. "Vasya" is a diminutive of "Vasily". Therefore, if they say about someone: "They are vas’-vas’ to each other", then it means that people call each other by shortened names; the relationship between them is close and informal.
3. Figli-migli
This expression means "pranks, jokes," that are often intended to deceive. It appeared in Russian in the 18th century and comes from the Polish word ‘figiel’ – trick, prank. From the same word comes the Russian ‘figlyar’ – a jester, a sham. As linguists explain, "migli" was added to "figli'' by means of divergent lexical reduplication, when the consonant sound is changed in the second component of the expression.
3. Tochit’ lyasy
Literally “to turn lyasy” (“turn” as in a “turning machine”), this means "to have empty and useless conversations", but the origin is still unclear. Linguists suggest that lyasy is from balyasy, the balusters of the stairs, which were not difficult to turn, though it was a very long, tiresome and repetitive process. Perhaps lyasy here comes from the sound-suggestive "la-la-la-la", which in Russian means “idle chatter”.
4. Kurolesit’
"Easter Procession in a Village"
The Russian verb kurolesit’ means “to act spontaneously, irrationally and haphazardly.” In Russian, this word sounds like a mixture of kury (chickens) and les (forest), but it’s derived from the Greek word for "Lord, have mercy" - Κύριε ἐλέησον ("kiriѥ eleison").This phrase is repeated many times in the Greek texts of any Orthodox church service, and is pronounced by the clergy.
In ancient Russian churches, services were often conducted in Greek, which the Russian clergy may not have known or knew poorly – so many simply repeated the service texts memorized by ear. Because of the fluent frequent repetition, "kirie eleison" turned into "kurolesie". This phenomenon is enshrined in an old Russian riddle: "They are walking through the forest, singing kurolesie, carrying a wooden pie with meat" (answer: funeral).
Therefore, in Russian "kurolesit" remained in the sense of meaning "to do something disorderly, sloppy, fussy, mischievous".
6. Fokus-pokus
"The Conjurer," circa 1502
This expression is also related to church services, though of the Catholic rite. It came into Russian from the German language. The Catholic liturgy is conducted in Latin. During the consecration of bread and wine, which symbolize the flesh and blood of Christ, the priest pronounces the words that Christ said at the Last Supper: "Hoc est enim corpus meum" ("Behold my body"). Thus "hoc est corpus" came to be understood by the common people as the words after which the transubstantiation, something miraculous, takes place.
But in Germany the masses didn’t know Latin very well, and so they also used sound imitation. Thus, "hoc est corpus" became Hokuspokus. In parodying church services, street magicians would shout, "Hokuspokus!" – and pull a rabbit out of a hat or turn a cane into a snake.
In 1635, a manual on magic tricks, Hocus Pocus Junior: The Anatomie of Legerdemain, was published in English. The French word legerdemain ("sleight of hand") was then called the art of "magicians" – manipulators. And Hocus Pocus Junior, the researchers suggest, is the stage name of a street magician William Vincent, the author of the book. In any case, after that in the 17th century in Europe, the word hokus pokus became synonymous with theater magic, and thanks to German and British immigrants it came to Russia. European magicians also came to Russia to earn money doing their performances. In the Russian language, they became known as fokusniks – which clearly is derived from “hokus-pokus”!
7. Aty-baty
Russian warriors, a picture from the Illustrated Chronicle of the 16th century
"Aty-baty, the soldiers went, aty-baty, to the market. Aty-baty, what did they buy? Aty-baty, a samovar." This old Russian rhyme helps to easily remember the origin of "aty-baty". As linguists explain, "batyr" in the Turkic language means "warrior", and in Turkic this root came from Sanskrit. In it, "bata" means servant, mercenary, boy, one who is lower in rank. "Atam" in Sanskrit means "to pass".
So, "aty-baty" turns out to be a straight translation from ancient Turkic language and it means "soldiers were walking". Some researchers suggest that it could be a rhythm of formation, under which the Mongol-Tatar army walked, but this hypothesis has no concrete confirmation.
