I don’t like most horror movies. There is always a naïve dummy being led into the hands of an evil master, who is driven by his utter insanity or various psychological issues. All this blood spill doesn’t do anything for me except for giving me an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Personally, I prefer suspense. I like that little chill and goose bumps you get when thinking “Can this really be possible?”

In Russian the goose bumps are called «гусиная кожа» “goose skin.” However, a more folksy word is мурашки.

The reason мурашки is used to describe this feeling is because this is also a word for ants or other little insects. Therefore, «мурашки по коже побежали», “ants ran on the skin” is probably one of the most used expressions to describe goose bumps along with the feeling causing them. (Insects running on your skin… mmmagical feeling… Gross!)

I am not sure what the context should be but I suppose you one could talk about a singular goose bump, мурашка, even though it is usually seen in its plural form. However, мурашка can definitely be used when talking about an ant.

Just like in English, you can get мурашки from being cold or overcome by feelings, either positive or negative.

Some say that pigs make great house pets. They call them charming and intelligent with expressive personalities. However, for most of us pig pets are too exotic. I mean, would you like to be awakened by loud grunting noises?

In Russian a pig is свинья. It is a word of feminine gender; in conversational Russian свин can mean a male pig, but when people talk about pigs they usually just use the feminine form

Russian pigs don't go “oink-oink”; they go хрю-хрю, which, in my opinion, makes sense; it reminds me of grunting sounds.

Figuratively both свинья and свин can be used to describe a messy person, while свинарник, “pigpen” could describe the filthiness of their home.

Also, it serves as an insult following one’s shabby act. In that case this person’s actions can be called свинство “swinishness” or “rudeness.”

We have a rather well used expression, свинью подложить, which means to intentionally cause trouble or play a dirty trick on them.

There is a theory that this expression comes historically from the ban on eating pork, свинина in Judaism and Islam. You can imagine someone, intentionally slipping a religious Muslim some pork in order to get them in trouble or cause mischief (source).

In Russian the mumps also have something to do with pigs: we call it свинка. The name comes from the look of one’s swollen cheeks when the salivary glands get inflamed. Incidentally, свинка is the diminutive form for свинья.

Another use of the word свинья is piggy bank, свинья-копилка. I found a really cute cartoon from the 1960’s that was based on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, Свинья-копилка, “The Piggy Bank”.

I’ll have to admit that I can’t take credit for today’s word of the day: my kitty helped me come up with it. She woke me up this morning by tickling my nose with her tail as she lay comfortably on my pillow. Still sleepy, I tried to move the little bugger without having to get up and inevitably being forced to start my day. After a few unsuccessful attempts to redirect that fuzzy fur piece, I gave up. (It was time to get up anyway ).) Meanwhile, I thought that the word “tail” was worth writing about.

In Russian tail is «хвост». It is a noun of masculine gender. The plural form is «хвосты» and diminutive is «хвостик».

In Russian this word has a few meanings, just like in English. The main one is an animal's body part.

Another meaning is ‘ponytail’ (the hairstyle). For example:

Also, it could mean a tail of something very long, such as a ship or an airplane.

Just like in English, this word can mean to chase or to follow someone.

Also, the word «хвост» has a very interesting meaning in student life. It describes an assignment that a student has not turned in in time, and because of which his grade is pending.

The latter sounds funny and provokes lots of jokes about students literally turning in their tails...

Here is an episode from the Russian version of Winnie the Pooh, where the donkey loses his tail!

Recently I wrote about bugs and how their little legs can make us shudder uncontrollably. That made me think about something even more horrifying: caterpillars. Even though some of them are really pretty with their perfect little geometrical figures on their skin, I can hardly bring myself to get near one… and as for touching them — forget it!

In Russian caterpillar is гусеница. It is a noun of feminine gender that incidentally has nothing to do with гусь “goose” that seems to have the same root.

Some dream interpretations suggest that seeing a caterpillar in your dream means getting involved with something undesirable, causing you distress. A caterpillar on your clothes that can’t be shaken off means some unpleasant encounters in the future. However, if you squish a caterpillar in your dream, good luck won’t leave your side. (source)

I remember when I was little, my friends and I were playing on the swing we had in our garden. That swing was big enough to fit several people. Being a good girl, I took my shoes off and climbed onto the swing ready to have fun. Little did I know what my friends were plotting. They found a big fuzzy caterpillar with a green body and a bright orange head and placed it carefully in one of my shoes. When I finally put my shoes back on, I could feel that my foot was not alone in there. As soon as I realized what it was, I jumped so suddenly that the swing jerked and folded in half, dumping us all on the ground. I remember shrugging and screaming but the joke was on my friend who pulled the prank — he landed on the caterpillar!

Bugs gross out many people. However, very rarely you can find a person who is afraid of ladybugs. There is something so cute about them that even when their little legs touch your skin you don’t want to shake them off. Well, at least I wouldn’t. I remember playing with my friends as a kid, trying to get ladybugs to land on our palms. However, the bugs were smart enough to choose flower tops over us… I guess I shouldn’t take it personally; they were probably just hungry

Interestingly enough, in Russian a ladybug is called «божья коровка», which is literally “God’s little cow”. I guess the “little cow” part is plausible because of the black spots on the bug’s back. Also, it turns out that ladybugs secrete special orange milk that comes from the insect’s joints when they are in danger. It has a bitter unpleasant taste, which makes animals and other insects change their mind about eating a ladybug. But what about «божья», what does this bug have to do with God? One possible reason is that the word «божий» used to be used as “nice”, “peaceful”, and “harmless”. This bug is traditionally considered an herbivore, whereas in reality it feeds on plant lice (source). So I bet the latter would not be too fast to call a ladybug cute or harmless…

Also, there is a band in Russia called «Божья коровка». It was formed in the 90's and and still active today. They don't really have a single style, so for lack of a better word we might call it soft pop; however they also sing блатные песни (a style of songs based on prison camp themes and criminal life), and sometimes they do little parodies. Here, I would like to share one that they did in response to Mambo Number 5 by Lou Bega. They called it «Мамбо по-русски», "Russian Mambo".

I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't many people who have heard of this band. I came across their name only when doing my research on ladybug. But I hope that this video will make you smile, just like it did me!

PS. If you would like to see the video along with words & translation, simply click here.