Колбасить и колбаситься

by Tatiana  

photo

It is interesting how some slang words in Russian are formed from something completely unrelated. The words колбасить and колбаситься would seem to come from the word колбаса “sausage” or “salami”; however, in reality, they have nothing to do with it.

If someone says, «меня колбасит», don’t just assume they want to have a salami sandwich... :D What they probably mean is that they feel weird for whatever reason. They may be under drug or alcohol influence, sick or just nervous.

— По-моему мне что-то подсыпали в сок, меня колбасит!
— Не может быть! Кто мог такое сделать?
“I think that someone slipped something into my juice; I’m feeling weird!”
“No way! Who would do such a thing?”
Когда у меня был жар, меня так колбасило, что мне всякие монстры мерещились! When I had a fever, I was feeling so weird; it seemed that I saw some monsters!
— Почему вы такие бледные?
— Нас колбасит перед спектаклем: мы боимся, что забудем слова!
“Why are you so pale?”
“We are freaking out before the performance; we are afraid that we’ll forget the words!”

However, sometimes this word can be used to express a positive feeling:

Хорошо, что я выпил Ред Бул. У меня теперь столько энергии, меня аж колбасит! I’m glad I drank Red Bull. I have so much energy now, I’m rockin’!

The word колбаситься means "to have fun", while dancing, relaxing, and acting silly and often irresponsible. :lalala:

Imperfective Perfective
Infinitive колбаситься поколбаситься
Past колбасился
колбасилась
колбасилось
колбасились
поколбасился
поколбасилась
поколбасилось
поколбасились
Present колбашусь
колбасишься
колбасится
колбасимся
колбаситесь
колбасятся
No such thing as
perfective present
in Russian.
Future буду колбаситься
будешь колбаситься
будет колбаситься
будем колбаситься
будете колбаситься
будут колбаситься
поколбашусь
поколбасишься
поколбасится
поколбасимся
поколбаситесь
поколбасятся
Imperative колбасься
колбaсьтесь
поколбасься
поколбaсьтесь

Пойдём сегодня вечером в клуб – поколбасимся! Let’s go to a club tonight – it’ll be a good time!

«Колбаса» in Russian slang is used to describe something enjoyable and of a good quality, while «колбасня» a fun time, a wild party or generally something worth experiencing.

I think I used these words the most while living in a dorm in Israel during my high school years. My friends and I колбасились “had fun” at so many different колбасня’s “great parties.” Even though sometimes нас колбасило “we were freaking out” before our exams, we tried to calm down because a well-written exam is another reason to поколбаситься “relax and have some silly fun”! :yes:

Полететь

by Don  

The most generic perfective verb for travelling by air in Russian is полететь “to fly”:

Perfective
Infinitive полететь
Past полетел
полетела
полетело
полетели
Present No such thing as
perfective present
in Russian.
Future полечу
полетишь
полетит
полетим
полетите
полетят
Imperative полети(те)

Perfective verbs like полететь have several different uses. The nature of the perfective verb is to put focus on the result of an action, so полететь can mean “to head off somewhere by air and actually arrive there.” Thus it can be used to describe a series of flights, each one complete:

Какая у меня была сумасшедшая неделя! В понедельник я полетел в Киев. Во вторник я полетел в Самару, и потом в четверг я полетел в Новосибирск. What a crazy week I had! On Monday I flew to Kiev. On Tuesday I flew to Samara, and then on Thursday I flew to Novosibirsk.

The verb can also mean “to go and arrive” on a single trip; we see it in that meaning in a headline from Guy Laliberté's recent flight into space. (He is the founder of Cirque du Soleil).

Клоун-миллионер полетел в космос. The millionaire-clown has flown into space.

One last use is a colloquial one. It can also mean “I'm gone,” just as побежал and пошёл can.

— Пашенька, не уходи! Останься ещё хоть на полчаса.
— Нет, Юлeчка, я полетел. Ты же знаешь, что мама не любит, когда я опаздываю.
— Господи, почему я хожу с таким маменькиным сынком, понятия не имею.
“Pavel, don't leave! Just stay another half hour.”
“No, Yuliya, I'm out of here. You know that Mama doesn't like it when I'm late.”
“Lord, why I'm going out with such a Mama's boy I'll never know.”

Лететь

by Don  

Another verb for travelling by air in Russian is лететь “to fly”:

Imperfective
Infinitive лететь
Past летел
летела
летело
летели
Present лечу
летишь
летит
летим
летите
летят
Future буду лететь
будешь лететь
будет лететь
будем лететь
будете лететь
будут лететь
Imperative лети(те)

This is a determinate (unidirectional) verb of motion, which means it is normally used to indicate a flight currently in progress. Thus if you glance at the sky and spot an airplane, you might say:

Смотри, вон летит самолёт! Look! There goes an airplane!

If you are a friendly type of person, chatting with your fellow passenger on an aircraft, you might have the following dialog:

— Я лечу в Финикс. А вы?
— А я подальше. Я лечу в Лос-Анжелес.
“I'm flying to Phoenix. What about you?”
“I'm going a bit farther. I'm flying to Los Angeles.”

Time for a pop quiz: what verb should you use when you see birds in flight? The multidirectional летать or the unidirectional лететь? Come up with an answer, then scroll down to see my response.





















The answer is: it depends. Let's say you are sitting on a bench, and you see a bunch of swallows darting hither and thither. In that context you will use the multidirectional form:

Я очень люблю смотреть, как летают ласточки! I really love watching the swallows fly!

But if a mother spots geese going in a particular direction, she will use the unidirectional verb to test her son's knowledge:

— Юрочка, ты знаешь куда летят гуси?
— Мама, я же не ребёнок. Они летят на юг на зиму.
— Какой ты умница! Дай я тебя расцелую!
“Yuri, do you know where the geese are going?”
“Mama, I'm not a little boy. They are heading south for the winter.”
“You are so smart! Let me give you a big, fat kiss!”

Ботаник

by Don  

The word ботаник means botanist. It declines perfectly regularly, assuming of course you know the seven-letter spelling rule:

SgPl
Nomботаникботаники
Accботаникаботаников
Gen
Preботаникеботаниках
Datботаникуботаникам
Insботаникомботаниками

A ботаник is a person who studies ботаника botany. (Note that the nominative singular ботаника ‘botany’ is written the same way as the accusative/genitive singular of ботаник ‘botanist.’) The definition of ботаник on ru.wikitionary.org runs something like this:

Ботаник — человек, имеющий образование в области ботаники или профессионально занимающийся этой наукой. A botanist is a person educated in the field of botany or one who is a professional in that science.

Some botanists have extraordinary lives:

Мой дядя — ботаник, который специализируется по растительности амазонских джунглей. Он ползает по лесам, собирая образцы и стараясь избегать внимания местных людоедов. My uncle is a botanist who specializes in the vegetation of the Amazonian jungles. He crawls around the forests gathering samples and trying to avoid the attention of the local cannibals.

That, however, is not the image associated with the word in Russian pop culture. There a ботаник is someone who is involved in completely uninteresting and testosterone-deficient activities, in other words a geek or a nerd:

— Лен, мне очень понравился твой Саша. Какой он красавец!
— Ты шутишь? Он полнейший ботаник, всё время дома сидит, перелистывая энциклопедию. Как только вернётся Паша, я Сашку наверно брошу.
“Lena, I really liked your boyfriend, Alexandr. He's a real stud!”
“Are you kidding? He's a complete geek. He just stays at home all the time, leafing through the encylopedia. As soon as Pavel gets back, I'm probably going to dump Aleksandr.”

На (часть пятая)

by Don  

Seven-year old Mariana walked into the living room where her father, Alyosha, and I were sitting. She placed an ashtray in front of us and said «Нате». I looked at the two of them in confusion and Alyosha said:

Она думала, что вы тоже будете курить. She thought that you were going to smoke, too.

Alyosha had totally misunderstood the source of my confusion. He thought I was surprised that she thought I would smoke, but really I was confused because I didn't have the foggiest idea of what «нате» meant. It was my first trip to Russia, having had five years of college Russian. It would not have surprised me for someone to say, “Oh, you don't know the difference between ОВИР and УВИР is? The latter is the department where you process the special form that gives foreigners the right to use a public toilet, and the former is the office where that toilet is located. Be sure to bring some small gift to УВИР or they won't put the right stamp on the form, and when you go to ОВИР, be sure to put the seat down when you are done or the babushka who monitors the sinks will yell at you.” That wouldn't have surprised me at all. But to have a little nine-year old Russian girl flummox me with two syllables was downright demoralizing.

It turns out that «на» and «нате» mean “Here you go.” It's used when you are handing something to someone. «На» is used when you are talking with someone in ты form, and «нате» is used when speaking to someone in вы form. That's right. The Russkis have added -те to something that's not a verb. Makes me want to study an easier language, like Pashto or Thai...

«На» and «нате» are very informal words. You will hear them used in homes and among friends. Don't use them in formal circumstances. I once flashed my hotel pass to a doorman in Russia and said «на». He had annoyed me, and my use of «на» really ticked him off. He caused me continual grief for the rest of my stay at that hotel. (It really was rude of me, and I should not have done it. Just because someone is a jerk to you does not mean you should be a jerk to him.)

And here are a couple examples of how it can be used:

— Мам, передай соль.
— На.
“Mom, pass the salt.”
“Here you go.”
Ребята, у меня для вас сюрприз. Я принесла конфеты. Нате, ешьте на здоровье! Kids, I have a surprise for you. I brought some candy. Here you go. Enjoy!

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