# Нифига себе



## rubes1

What does this mean please?:

"Нифига себе!"


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## CoolDiamond

Exclamation of surprise. Slang. Something like "Oh boy!"


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## Kolan

rubes1 said:


> "Нифига себе!"


= Wow! (a little bit more polite than the original in Russian). In Russian it is not slang, it is just informal, but not polite.


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## CoolDiamond

Be careful wit the word "нифига". It's a kinda bad one. Not for public.


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## Kolan

CoolDiamond said:


> Be careful wit the word "нифига". It's a kinda bad one. Not for public.


Yes, something in between "Oh, boy!" and "Oh, fuck!". I would say "*holey-moley*", maybe, but the Russian one is not so idiomatic.

You may find it in various forms, like "нифигасе" or "нифига себе фига". Generally, it would be an euphemism for the much more scornful words (their meaning is immediately understood by natives, that's why not recommended).

It would be also appropriate for punks and "metallists".


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## rubes1

Thank you! You guys are amazing! Just curious what's the literal meaning of each word?


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## Maroseika

Literally it doesn't mean anything at all. The whole expression is an euphemism, because фиг in Russian substitutes another word - prick. On the other hand, this rough expression obviously substitutes quite polite one - ничего себе (same meaning).
Anyway: 
ни - not a
фиг - fig, originally "three-finger combination" (кукиш) representing a prick
себе - to you, but used as intensificative particle


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## CoolDiamond

Maroseika said:


> себе - to you



to me, to myself, to oneself


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## Maroseika

cooldiamond said:


> to me, to myself, to oneself


 Ну да, что это я...


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## Dmitry_86

rubes1 said:


> What does this mean please?:
> 
> "*Ни фига* себе!"


 
First of all, the collocation (the exclamation) is very informal and belongs to the group of slang words. It should be used only among your close friends and must definitely be avoided in public. The first two words (see my selection in bold above) are spelled separately, not as a solid word

Such phrase means that you greatly surprised, astonished or even shocked by something. As a rule, we say it when we do not expect someone to have done something whereas he has managed to succeed. In order to clarify it further, I have provided some examples:

1) "Я слетал туда и обратно за 1 день" - "Ни фига себе!!!" - "I have flown there and back for one day" - "Wow!!!". The second speaker is surprised that the first one has managed to cover a huge a distance so promptly, for such a short period of time.

2) "Я упал со второго этажа и не пострадал" - "Ни фига себе!!!" - "I have fallen down from the second floor and was not hurt"-"Wow!!!" - It seems surprising that after falling down the first speaker still did not have any serious injuries or wounds" 

3) "Я сдал экзамен без подготовки" - "Ни фига себе!!!" - "I have passed the exam without preparing for it" - "Wow" - Probably, the examiner was considered to be too strict and the subject too difficult to understand; nonetheless, the first speaker has passed it without any preparation at all!!!


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## Maroseika

Dmitry_86 said:


> . The first two words (see my selection in bold above) are spelled separately, not as a solid word


 Spelled or written? However, it is spelled not more separately than ничего, isn't it? Same for writing, I guess.


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## Dmitry_86

Maroseika said:


> Spelled or written? However, it is spelled not more separately than ничего, isn't it? Same for writing, I guess.



The collocation spells separately "Ни фига себе ". It was written as a solid word ("Нифига ") which is wrong.


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## Q-cumber

> *НИ ФИГА* нареч. разг.-сниж.
> Полное отсутствие чего-л.; нисколько, ничуть, совсем нисколько._(Толково-образовательный словарь)_



Классическое разговорное восклицание: *Ничего себе!* <I should say>


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## Mareczek

"Ni figa" - eto kruto! Prawda, nie solidno... "Ni figa siebie!" - eto prodawnicu magazinom nazywac!


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## Kolan

q-cumber said:


> Классическое разговорное восклицание: *Ничего себе!* <i should say>


В отличие от него, в выражении "нифига себе" "ни" ничего не значит, так его можно опустить без изменения смысла: "фигА себе!", "фигАсе!"


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## Kolan

Dmitry_86 said:


> The collocation spells separately "Ни фига себе ". It was written as a solid word ("Нифига ") which is wrong.


"Нифига" is adverb and, therefore, is written together with "ни". Both forms are correct, since they have different grammatical value, although may mean basically the same. Please compare:

- Как дела?
- Да так, нифига. /ничего, как обычно.
- А деньги есть?
- Кризис... Нет ни фига. /Нет денег.


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## Dmitry_86

Kolan said:


> - Как дела?
> - Да нифига.
> - Деньги есть?
> - Кризис... Нет ни фига.



OK. Let it be so. I have hardly ever heard the first variant of usage but, of course, it does not mean that it does not exist. It does, if you are aware of it and heard or seen it in use. When replying to the thread I was speaking about the second meaning like that concerning the crisis


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## Ptak

Kolan said:


> - Как дела?
> - Да так, нифига. /ничего, как обычно.


Is it only me to whom this reply sounds completely wrong?
I could imagine someone reply like that in the sense "ни фига не получилось" (in a proper context), but never as "ничего, как обычно" ("so-so").


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## Kolan

Dmitry_86 said:


> I have hardly ever heard the first variant of usage but, of course, it does not mean that it does not exist. It does, if you are aware of it and heard or seen it in use.


Well, I did not provide any Google links. Sorry, sorry for that...

"А жизнь...Что жизнь? Жизнь - это лишь маленькое окошко, в которое я выглядываю изредка... -И что там? -Да так, нифига "
www.reflections.kiev.ua/tales/1+1.html


"Да, так - нифига..." Отмороженная отреченность её в конце. Чашку помыла, свитер надела... И поставила кассету..."
acheleranda.livejournal.com/tag/кино

Как уже отмечали форерос, "*нифига*" в подобном контексте является синонимом "*ничего*" и законно пишется слитно.


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