Memorize Russian Idioms and Proverbs: 98 Flashcards from Noodles on Ears to Lumpy Pancakes
Learn 98 Russian proverbs and idioms: семь раз отмерь, вешать лапшу на уши, первый блин комом. Study tips by half-line and image, plus cards to fix.
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Russian proverbs tend to come in two rhyming halves, and Russian idioms usually go through a body part or an animal. The Flip It deck Russian Idioms & Proverbs (deck code WF8420, 98 cards) covers both: cards 1-61 are full proverbs with a literal translation and the English equivalent in brackets, and cards 62-98 are short idioms glossed with "meaning…".
Study this deck: Russian Idioms & Proverbs
1 / 10Семь раз отмерь, один раз отрежь
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
Sample cards
| Russian (front) | Back |
|---|---|
| Семь раз отмерь, один раз отрежь | Measure seven times, cut once (Think carefully before acting) |
| Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей | Don't have a hundred rubles, have a hundred friends |
| Слово не воробей, вылетит — не поймаешь | A word is not a sparrow; once it flies out, you can't catch it |
| Работа не волк, в лес не убежит | Work isn't a wolf, it won't run away to the forest (Work can wait) |
| Цыплят по осени считают | Chickens are counted in autumn |
| Вешать лапшу на уши | To hang noodles on ears: to lie, to deceive someone |
| Медведь на ухо наступил | A bear stepped on (your) ear: tone-deaf |
| Когда рак на горе свистнет | When a crayfish whistles on a mountain: never, when pigs fly |
| Первый блин комом | The first pancake is lumpy: the first attempt usually fails |
What the deck covers
Proverbs: Тише едешь — дальше будешь, Без труда не выловишь и рыбку из пруда, Повторенье — мать ученья, Утро вечера мудренее, Век живи — век учись, Друзья познаются в беде, Лес рубят — щепки летят, В тихом омуте черти водятся, Своя рубашка ближе к телу, Не говори гоп, пока не перепрыгнешь, Копейка рубль бережёт, На воре шапка горит, Клин клином вышибают, Гусь свинье не товарищ. Idioms: бить баклуши, водить за нос, остаться с носом, как кот наплакал, медвежья услуга, делать из мухи слона, ни рыба ни мясо, пускать пыль в глаза, считать ворон, казанская сирота, В ногах правды нет.
How to learn them
Make the first half the question. Most of the proverbs split around a dash or comma: Волков бояться — …, Делу время, …, Как аукнется, …. Russians often quote only the first half and leave the rest unsaid, so the useful skill is finishing the line. Test yourself on completions as well as meanings, and stress the rhyme (отмерь / отрежь, поведёшься / наберёшься) to make each half pull up the other.
Group the idioms by image. The second half is easier to learn in clusters than in deck order. Nose: водить за нос, остаться с носом, комар носа не подточит, заруби себе на носу (here нос was historically a tally stick, not a nose). Water and fish: как рыба в воде, как с гуся вода, ловить рыбу в мутной воде, как в воду опущенный, биться как рыба об лёд. Wolf: cards 3, 41 and 42.
Cards to fix
- Cards 24 (Одна голова хорошо, а две лучше) and 59 (Ум хорошо, а два лучше) teach the same proverb. Keep both, but tag them as variants.
- Cards 38 and 60 have the same English equivalent ("Don't count your chickens…"). Add a note to say which one is about bragging (гоп) and which is about results (autumn).
- Card 56 is missing its verb. Rewrite the front as валить с больной головы на здоровую ("to shift the blame").
- Cards 91 (висеть на телефоне) and 98 (ахиллесова пята) are general phrases rather than Russian folk sayings. Learn them, but don't treat them as proverbs.
For the grammar behind these phrases, pair this deck with the Russian verb aspect and conjugation deck: many of the proverbs depend on perfective futures like поймаешь and попадёшь.
Find Russian Idioms & Proverbs (WF8420) in the library at flip-it.app.
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