“Sharpening a stake on the head”: What’s behind this weird Russian expression?
This cryptic phrase is used to refer to a very stubborn person who can’t be persuaded to change their mind. No matter what you say, they don’t care.
“You might as well hew out a stake on his head – he still insists on his own ways!”, the Russian dictionary of proverbs suggests as an example. A synonymous Russian expression for this would be: “like throwing peas against the wall”.
Imagine someone sharpening the edges of a stake; then imagine this being done on someone’s head. Despite this being an obvious metaphor, one would definitely notice this happening! The person in the idiom, however, is so obstinate and headstrong (“oak-headed”, Russians also used to say) that they wouldn’t notice a stake on their head.
There is actually an English expression for this: “A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will.”
The phrase can also be found in classical literature – for example, in Boris Pasternak’s novel ‘Dr. Zhivago’, where it’s uttered by Nikolai Vedenyapin, a former priest and Yuri Zhivago’s uncle. After a lengthy speech about history and Christ, addressing Voskoboynikov (a so-called “new Soviet man” and therefore, an atheist), Vedenyapin exclaims: “Look at me go, I’ve worked up a sweat! And you still seem to have a stake on your head!” In other words, he tried so hard to explain and prove the existence of God, but his opponent remained completely indifferent. The English publication of ‘Doctor Zhivago’, however, didn’t translate this phrase literally, instead opting to use the following phrase: “I got quite worked up, didn't I? But I might as well be talking to a blank wall.”
