Erin Coyne - What They Didnt Teach You in Russian Class

To Myroslava.Someday this book is gonna embarrass the hell out of you. Text copyright 2008, 2017 Erin Coyne and Igor Fisun. Design and concept 2008, 2017 Ulysses Press and its licensors. Illustrations 2017 what!design. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions, and the Internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Published by: Ulysses Press P.O.

Box 3440 Berkeley, CA 94703 www.ulyssespress.com ISBN: 978-161243-737-8 Acquisitions editor: Casie Vogel Managing editor: Claire Chun Editors: Shayna Keyles, Alice Riegert Proofreader: Renee Rutledge Design and layout: what!design @ whatweb.com Illustrations: what!design @ whatweb.com Distributed by Publishers Group West IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS: This book is independently authored and published. No endorsement or sponsorship by or affiliation with movies, celebrities, products, or other copyright and trademark holders is claimed or suggested. All references in this book to copyrighted or trademarked characters and other elements of movies and products are for the purpose of commentary, criticism, analysis, and literary discussion only. Table of Contents Table of Contents

USSovieter, Russian relations have never been stranger. And not only have the politics changed, but some of the language Russians use has changed, too. Thus, we offer you What They Didnt Teach You in Russian Class as a sort of follow-up to the previously published Dirty Russian. Russian is just about the coolest language in the world.

But you already know that, because youve been studying the language for a while now, right? This book wasnt written with the novice in mindbut dont worry, beginners, Ive included pronunciation tips and a few grammar refreshers for you. The book is designed to bring your Russian to the next level, a level usually reserved for natives and longtime expats. With that in mind, Ive tried to give you all the dirty words and insider terms that your college Russian professor would never teach you. So youre not gonna find any basic vocabulary or grammar lessons or phrases for asking where the library is. But if youre looking to tell somebody to fuck off or score a hot Russian date, then youre in the right place, my friend. All of this is to say that I hope you already more or less understand the language before jumping into this book.

Russian is a complex language to master even at a fairly basic level. Learning the slang is even harder, as it can be extremely difficult for the uninitiated to gauge when, where, and with whom slang is appropriate. As the old saying goes: When in doubt, leave it out. Using the wrong slang or profanity with the wrong person at the wrong timeespecially with a strong foreign accentwill make you sound ridiculous, at best. So err on the side of caution. Also, be aware that in Russia, it is far less socially acceptable for women to use foul language, so know your audience before letting it rip.

Some things havent changed that much since Dirty Russian came out, so youll still find all the classic insults and expletives that were covered the first time around. Now, before you start clutching your pearls and sputtering, But, but, butits so vulgar, you can relax. Yes, vulgarity is a part of language. Thats not to say that you should open your dirty mouth and let it loose, but you should be aware of some of these more colorful terms, because theres a good chance you may hear them. Still, you should definitely use your head before using some of these words and phrases yourself. If you use vulgarity indiscriminately, you will likely amuse at best and offend at worst.

But as long as youre with some chill friends with a sense of humor, you should be good to go, especially if the alcohol is flowing. We have tried to make the book as reader-friendly as possible. Each phrase in the book is accompanied by its English equivalent and its Russian pronunciation. Often, youll find example sentences with key terms bolded so you can break those words out and employ them on your own, whether youre just joking around with your friends at school or spending quality time on the streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, or some remote backwater village. Once you start to know your way around and find yourself with a group of sailor-mouthed friends with three days worth of drinkin on their breath, you should jump right in and start throwing the slang around.

Even clumsy attempts will likely earn their amused affection. We hope this doesnt come as news to you, but right now, Russia is relevant! I mean, we always knew it was important, but its gotten a lot more in-your-face lately, thanks to shifting political alliances and agendas. In light of current events, there is now a section called Putin Is a Dickhead, which I guess means my Russian visa application wont be approved any time soon. The computer slang called (yazik padonkov) has mostly died its well-deserved death (honestly, it was annoying as hell!), and has been replaced by the world of mobile apps and selfie sticks. Most depressing of all, American fast food chains continue their nefarious spread through the streets and stomachs of Russia, so if you want to order some chicken poppers at Papa Johns or a caramel frappuccino at Starbucks, we now have you covered. For now, just sit back, crack open the book, and tell everyone around you to fuck the hell off.

Now lets get some of the basics over with so we can move on to the good stuff. Some basics Russian, much like Russia itself, is not for the faint of heart. So here are a few notes to keep in mind as youre reading. Ty and Vy: Like many languages, Russian has two pronouns for you: /ty and /vy. Ty is the informal and singular way of saying you; vy is formal and plural. We have used ty as the default in this book, as many of the terms within are inherently linked to informal social situations.

Generally, you wouldnt say anything in this book to someone that you are on vy terms with. Vy, however, is also used for plurals, so this is the one you need when talking to more than one person. Cases: Russian has six grammatical cases, which means that the endings of words change depending on their function in the sentence (direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, etc.). When words are given in isolation, assume that they are in the nominative case. However, when they are given in phrases, they have whatever case ending is necessary for the grammatical context. As this is not a first-year Russian textbook, familiarity of basic Russian grammar is presumed.

If none of this paragraph made sense to you, go look it up. Gender: All Russian nouns have a gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter). This is important, because gender will affect declensional patterns as well as the endings you use on adjectives to describe nouns. When discussing people, gender means that both adjectives and the past tense of verbs take different endings depending on whether you are talking about a man or a woman. In most cases, we have used masculine endings as a sort of default gender. Feminine endings are used only when specified as such.

If that seems sexist to anyone, well, what can I say? Thats Russiayou might as well get used to it now. Pronunciation: The most important thing when it comes to pronunciation in Russian is stress. Once you find the correct stressed syllable in a word, the rest of the pronunciation should fall into place. In this book, stress is indicated in the transliteration line by capital letters. There are some finer points of pronunciation that arent as essential, such as voicing and devoicing. If you screw those up, youll sound totally foreign, but youll still be understood.