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!

The verb “to cost” in Russian is стоить:

The verb is mostly used in the third person. Bear in mind that the thing whose price you are discussing is the subject of the verb, so the verb has to agree with it:

The price itself goes into the accusative case. You don't normally notice that it's accusative because the accusative of most numbers is the same as the nominative; but if the cost includes a feminine singular noun like копейка, then you will clearly see the accusative. Likewise the number тысяча ‘one thousand’ is a noun in form, so you may see its accusative form as well.

One thing a beginner has to be careful about is the stress on these verb forms since they are different from the forms of стоять, even though they are mostly spelled the same. You can take a look here for a quick review of that verb.

One of the greatest Russian writers, Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, once said that Russian language is «великий и могучий», “great and mighty”. I believe that one of the reasons it is true is that some words in Russian encompass a few completely different meanings.

Previously I talked about the word «лист», meaning “leaf”, but «лист» can also mean a piece of paper or two pages in a book.

The diminutive for лист is «листик» or «листок». Both of them can be used interchangeably.

The plural form of the word «лист» in its current meaning is «листы».

The verb «листать», "to turn" or to "flip through" pages is also formed from the root «лист» as well as the word «листовка», which means “flyer”.

In English the word list sounds like «лист» but means «список», in Russian. Having lived in the United States for a few years now I sometimes add some altered English words to my Russian speech without even noticing. For example, I caught myself a few times using «лист» when I mean to say «список» partially because the pronunciation is so similar. While I work on improving my English, I also try to avoid little mistakes like that; thus, maintaining a very good level of Russian.

Just recently I have been thinking about the things that I miss since I moved to Phoenix. I was going though the pictures I took on my fall trip to the East Coast. The first thing that catches the eye is gorgeous trees dressed in their colorful gowns: red, yellow, green, and anything in between. While adults enjoy the pretty view and romantic walks in the park, the kids have the best time running around and diving in a huge pile of leaves... at least in Russia they do

The word leaf in Russian is «лист». It can be any tree leaf as well as fig, cabbage, laurel, currant, or a oak leaf. We have a rather well used expression with the latter:

This expression is used when one person constantly follows the other to ultimately express his or her affection for them without the subject’s consent or reciprocation. It literally means “He has stuck to me like a sauna leaf.” This saying comes from the famous Russian bathhouses, where hitting oneself with a bundle of green birch twigs while steaming is considered a great cleansing procedure. The repeated thrashing eventually breaks the leaves off the twig, and they stick as flat as can be on your sweat-soaked body. Now that is a great image.

The plural form of the word «лист» is «листья».

Do note carefully how the noun is declined in the plural:

Recently I came across some really pretty pictures of sea waves that inspired me. In those pictures I could see the white foam tongues slowly go up and down the shore. I could almost feel a light breeze go through my hair. In Russian that white foam is called «пена» and just like in English this word has multiple meanings.

For example, “shaving foam” is «пена для бритья» and “bath foam” is «пена для ванн».

Interestingly enough, the verb «пениться» in Russian slang is formed from the same root but means to get "angry”, “annoyed” or "worried".

However, when we talk about foam in cappuccino, or any other hot drink we call it «пенка», “little foam”. Speaking of which, I think the most disgusting thing you can try is молоко с пенкой, “milk with foam”. That’s that little skin that forms on milk when you boil it. It’s so gross, I’m shuddering even now as I type. I remember when I was at kindergarten, they would make us drink it… one of the most horrifying experiences of my childhood! Luckily, my mom soon came to my rescue and protected me from the evil пенка, “foam”! Thanks, Mommy!