# Что слышно?



## halo113

can someone help me, what does this mean in english
shtoa slishna, cok deela?


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## Vovlik

Hi, Halo113,

In informal Russian speech it means: What's new? What's up? How is it going?


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## Crescent

.. That's russian? That's barely understandable to be honest. I had to sit there a good few minutes figuring it out. Sorry 
I would say it translates as: Do you hear me? (like, for example, if someone was talking on the phone). How are you doing?
Although, why is it: _Cok_ dela? (as opposed to _Kak?_)


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## papillon

Well, actually Vovlik is right.

Shto slyshno literally means _what is heard?_ Though this translations sounds strange in English, it is commonly used to mean _what's up_? When I tried to come up with a _truer_ English equivalent, the only one was from the urban US slang:
 What's the word on the street?


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## Vovlik

Hi, Crescent,

Halo113 has just tried to transliterate it the way he heard it. And it's very understandable by the way.

In the situation you described above it would be "Kak slishno?" not "Shto slishno?" 

And sorry, Halo113, didn't mean to confuse you even more;(


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## Crescent

papillon said:


> Well, actually Vovlik is right.
> 
> Shto slyshno literally means _what is heard?_ Though this translations sounds strange in English, it is commonly used to mean _what's up_? When I tried to come up with a _truer_ English equivalent, the only one was from the urban US slang:
> What's the word on the street?



Oh, really? Then my apologies..  I honestly didn't know that 'chto slyshno' could mean 'what's up'? But now I will be aware of that! Thanks, mister papillon.


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## Crescent

Vovlik said:


> Hi, Crescent,
> 
> Halo113 has just tried to transliterate it the way he heard it. And it's very understandable by the way.
> 
> In the situation you described above it would be "Kak slishno?" not "Shto slishno?"
> 
> And sorry, Halo113, didn't mean to confuse you even more;(



Yes, Vovlik, on second thought: you're right. My mistake entirely.   
I just said what first came into my head, without reflecting on it too much. Please do forgive me.  I didn't really realise that it was written down as it would be heard, to be honest..


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## Lemminkäinen

Just a small nit-pick, but the word in the title is spelled что, not што


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## Vovlik

I think Crescent's knowledge of Russian has got a bit rusty since I reckon he doesn't get to use it much in England


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## papillon

Lemminkäinen said:


> Just a small nit-pick, but the word in the title is spelled что, not што


Well, I would leave it like that, since the thread starter was asking about something they only knew phonetically...


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## Lemminkäinen

Vovlik said:


> I think Crescent's knowledge of Russian has got a bit rusty since I reckon she doesn't get to use it much in England



 



papillon said:


> Well, I would leave it like that, since the thread starter was asking about something they only knew phonetically...



Of course, just thought I'd mention it


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## Crescent

Lemminkäinen said:


> Originally Posted by *Vovlik*
> I think Crescent's knowledge of Russian has got a bit rusty since I reckon *s*he doesn't get to use it much in England



Thank you very much, Lemmi.  Justice is done! Dear Vovlik, despite the word месяц in Russian being of masculine gender, I'm a female Crescent.


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## Vovlik

Oops, I stand corrected!


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## Thomas F. O'Gara

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that Что слышно is a bit old-fashioned - even pre-revolution.

I'd appreciate correction from any native speakers out there.


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## Vovlik

Actually, it is commonly used in colloquial speech no matter how old you are. 
I personally use it when I talk to sb about something discussed earlier.
So, it's more like:

What's the latest?


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## Eragahn123

To answer your Cok dela question, now 'teenagers' russian' has become something of a joke, with new words and 'accents' never heard before. Cok dela is probably an exaggeration of Kak dela, and of course, 'deela' is just slang, also exaggerating 'dela.


By the way, I bet noone can guess how old I am, haha!


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## Eragahn123

Thomas F. O'Gara said:


> Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that Что слышно is a bit old-fashioned - even pre-revolution.
> 
> I'd appreciate correction from any native speakers out there.



I agree, even though I'm not a native speaker... I live in Los Angeles, and my parents are immigrants. I speak russian quite fluently though. Back to the point:

In Russia, at least, from my experience, yes, 'Chto slyshno' is old-fashioned, but not pre-revolution (Huuuge exaggeration, habitual in many people, including me)! 

Now, "Nu kak!" is used a lot.... hm... I'll think on more of them.


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