# All Slavic languages: Slavic countries names in idioms



## slavian1

Hallo.

I'm interested in Slavic languages idioms containing names of Slavic countries. For example in Polish language we use to say:

- Czeski film - (a Czech movie) - A situation or an utterance which sense and logic is hard to grasp.

- Ruski miesiąc - (a Russian month) - Infinity; An undefined period of time describing an event that probably never occurs. 

Waiting for other examples.


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## sopera123

Hi,

In Serbian, there is an expression "to drink like a Russian", (pije k'o Rus). I will try to find some other ones. I hope that helps.


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## _Tasha_

In Slovene we like to use a comparison to Russians (_'kot Rusov' = 'like Russians'_) when we are talking about a large number of something. For example, '_Na stadionu nas je bilo kot Rusov.' _simply means that there were so many of us in the stadium (that is was crowded). I think this comparison derives from war times.

The next one is used only localy; as a matter of fact I only heard my friend using it. Saying that something is Czech, means that it is lame or out-of-date. It has a negative connotation, and as i said, I only heard one person to say it.


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## sopera123

There is also, "lijen/ len ko crnogorac" (lazy as a Montenegrian) in the region of fromer Yugoslavia.

Then there are some nicer "expressions" like "U Bosni ne pevaj, u Srbiji ne igraj, a u Makedoniji, ni jedno" (In Bosnia don't sing, in Serbia don't dance and in Macedonia don't try neither) it just refers to Bosnian people as being very good singer, Serbians as very good dancers and Macedonians as both.

And there is another one related to Russians "izgleda k'o ruski cirkus" ("it looks like the Russian circus" meaning that something is very messy).


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## Athaulf

In ex-Yu countries there used to be a saying "troši k'o ruska kola", meaning "spends/consumes like a Russian car".  It can't be translated into English well, since the same verb _trošiti_ can refer to spending money and also consuming fuel (by a car). The saying refers to someone being a spendthrift or a woman being high-maintenance.


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## sokol

_Tasha_ said:


> The next one is used only localy; as a matter of fact I only heard my friend using it. Saying that something is Czech, means that it is lame or out-of-date. It has a negative connotation, and as i said, I only heard one person to say it.



I think this one might have come to Slovenia via Austria where Czech (in German: böhmisch) is used similarly, in a negative way, so I think this might not be genuinly Slovene or Slavic but more likely Germanic.
(Or to be more precise, it might have come to Slovenia more likely before 1918 when Slovenia was part of the Austrian Empire.)


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## dudasd

One old from our socialistic times: "Thin like Bulgarian phonebook" ("Tanak kao bugarski telefonski imenik") - for example, if you were teasing someone about his lack of experience, you could say: "Your love history is thin like Bulgarian phonebook". I have seen Bulgaria only recently (and loved it), so I can only guess that there were times when it was not easy to get line in Bulgaria... 

Another one I can remember was "USSR" - "Sovjetski savez" was a kind of a synonime for "big bum", because it was the largest country in the world.


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## skye

_Tasha_ said:


> The next one is used only localy; as a matter of fact I only heard my friend using it. Saying that something is Czech, means that it is lame or out-of-date. It has a negative connotation, and as i said, I only heard one person to say it.


 
It used to be quite popular teenage slang in my home town, but it went out of use. I always thought it had something to do with those shopping trips where people only bought cheap and low quality goods. Until I read sokol's explanation.


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## _Tasha_

sokol said:


> I think this one might have come to Slovenia via Austria where Czech (in German: böhmisch) is used similarly, in a negative way, so I think this might not be genuinly Slovene or Slavic but more likely Germanic.
> (Or to be more precise, it might have come to Slovenia more likely before 1918 when Slovenia was part of the Austrian Empire.)


 
Ah, that explains it. Thanks.


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## Duya

dudasd said:


> One old from our socialistic times: "Thin like Bulgarian phonebook" ("Tanak kao bugarski telefonski imenik") - for example, if you were teasing someone about his lack of experience, you could say: "Your love history is thin like Bulgarian phonebook". I have seen Bulgaria only recently (and loved it), so I can only guess that there were times when it was not easy to get line in Bulgaria...



There's also idiom "_kao Bugarska skupština_" (like the Bulgarian Parliament) used for something that's breaking apart. I assume it has some historic origins, but I don't know them -- the answer is only hinted, but not given, here. Does anyone know it?


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## el_tigre

ruski rulet-Russian rulet - A totally risky behaviour
bosanski lonac-Bosnian pot- a very complex situation


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## Enki

*zakręcony jak ruski termos/słoik na zimę* - literally, this means '_screwed-on like a russian vacuum flask/jar for the winter_'. 'zakręcony' in Polish can, among others, mean 'screwed-on' (like a jar or other similar container), but colloquially it means '_wacky_','_freaky_', '_loony_' etc., so the true meaning of the term is '_very weird/crazy/freaky_'


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## Robert_sk

If something is complicated, incomprehensible...we will say...._it's like a Spanish village_ (to je Španielska dedina)....i.e. _mathematics is for me like a Spanish village_...
I don't know why the Spanish village is mentioned here


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## lavverats

Hi,
I don't know whether it used in other Slavic Languages, but in Bulgarian there is an expression "Руска зима" (Russian winter). It means a severe, cold and snowy winter.
Another expression often used during socialist times is "Загрявам като албански реотан"  (Literally: I warm up as an Albanian heating-resistor). It means "I'm slow in the uptake." Sorry, I don't know why "Albanian" is used here and hope, that our Albanian fiends do not feel it as an insult.
Поздрави,


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## kusurija

Czechs about themselvs: "Je to bohém!" - he is bohemian/kookie/fast set... Bohemia=Boiohaemum = land of ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boii ) Bois.
"Chceš-li poznat co je dřina, kup si kolo 'Ukrajina'!" If You want discover, what means hard work, buy bicycle 'Ukrajina'! (Their bearings didn't work properly or what).
Vrána - ruská slepice  (Crow = Russian hen)
Zima jako v Rusku/na Sibiři! ((It's) Cold/Winter as in Russia/Siberia)
Neraď: v Rusku's nebyl a 60 Ti taky není. (Don't advise: You'd not been yet in Russia and 60y's aged not yet...)
Polský film - not clearly understandable, what reason that film was made for...
I hope, that our Polish, Russian and Ukrainian friends do not feel it as an insult.


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## Blacklack

lavverats said:


> ...and hope, that our Albanian fiends do not feel it as an insult.


You meant 'friends' I hope


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## Mac_Linguist

Robert_sk said:


> If something is complicated, incomprehensible...we will say...._it's like a Spanish village_ (to je Španielska dedina)....i.e. _mathematics is for me like a Spanish village_...
> I don't know why the Spanish village is mentioned here



In Macedonian we have the same: _тоа е за мене шпанско село_ ("for me that's a Spanish village").


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## jana.bo99

Hello sopera123,

About Montenegro’s people: 

Everybody says they are very lazy and sleep until noon. 

When they wake up they say: 
DOBRO JUTRO NARODE CRNE GORE! 

What means: 
GOOD MORNING PEOPLE OF MONTENGRO!

My roots are there; then over Croatia and now in Slovenia, so I can talk about all three (now countries)!

Wish you nice day, 
(I was there too where you are now)!


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