Previously we discussed the endings and common uses of кирпич ‘brick.’ There is a Russian idiom that uses this word, «морда просит кирпича», which literally means “his face is asking for a brick.” It means someone whose face is really ugly, and it’s often accompanied by the idea that the person’s behavior is vulgar as well. The word for ‘face’ in these contexts is often «рожа, морда», which don't really have equivalents in current American English, although previously “mug, puss” were mild versions of them. Sometimes the phrase is associated with the very vulgar ебало, a word for face that is derived from the Russian eff word, which generally foreigners should avoid using. English has a few idioms to express the idea of someone being exceedingly ugly. Among them are:

• ugly as sin
• ugly as a stick
• ugly as a baboon’s ass

Here is an example of how the кирпич idiom is used in Russian.

Although the phrase is mostly used of physical ugliness, it can be used metaphorically as well. There is a well-known piece of WWII bilingual Nazi propaganda that uses the phrase:

Y’know, most of the time I'm delighted to present a Russian idiom, but on this occasion it makes me sad. The idea that those who are ugly deserve a brick in the face is a horrible one. There is, I think, evolutionarily in many human beings an idea that those who are weak, ugly, less fit for the wolves-vs-sheep existence decreed by pure materialism, an idea that such people are less fit to live, to be happy, to survive to wisdom and maturity... that idea is simply awful. Instead we should dedicate ourselves to a life where not only the strong-vicious-dominant survive. It is one of the reasons that I think religion is still significant in the scientific age: religion teaches that we will be judged in the same way that we treat the least of our brethren. Let us live in such a way that we do not have to throw a brick in the face of those who are different from us, those who are odd, those whom we don't yet understand. That way we can all enter the next millenium knowing that we have done the best we can to pursue kindness, wisdom and diversity in the best sense. And if you think you don't like the idea of diversity, then you need to rethink that right now.