Часом важко порозумітися з іноземцями:
деякі культурні й соціальні явища,
1. Перепічка – “perepichka”
Traditional Kyivan patty with sausage
filling. Really greasy and nourishing, it`s sold at one exact catering stand
down at Bohdana Hmelnitskogo street in the citycenter: this place can be easily
recognized by a long line of hungry people, queuing to buy a perepichka for 20
cents.
2. А голову ти не забув? – Haven`t you
forgotten your head as well?
A most common “pun”, used by teachers to
tease a pupil who`s forgotten his journal or/and homework. Became a popular
meme which`s used by adults as well, to make fun of a forgetful person in
various situations.
3. Да ну ні напевно – Yes well no maybe
Despite apparent literal nonsense, this
collocation is actually used to express uncertain denial, equating “probably
not”.
4. Останній дзвоник – The Last Bell
Annual prom celebration, which marks the
bell ringing for school-leavers, denoting their last lesson at school.
5. Маршрутка – “marshrutka”
An unusual combination of public
transport and taxi: mini-bus in a poor condition (usually yellow, but other
colorings also possible), which runs along the routes of buses and trams more
frequently than other types of public transport, but tickets for which are more
expensive.
6. Оселедець під шубою – Herring in a
fur-coat
Traditional salad, which consists of
herring, covered with layers of onions, potatoes, carrots, chopped eggs,
beetroot and mayonnaise. May sound unusual, but has been approved by numerous
generations of foodies and is an essential dish on every New Year`s menu.
7. Борщ – “borshch”
Traditional beetroot soup, usually
cooked on base on veal broth and seasoned with sour cream.
8. Диванна сотня – Sofa’s hundred (a
hundred on the sofa)
While Maidan events took place in Kyiv,
numerous activists were divided into squadrons (hundreds) of people – that was
the way of organizing the crowd. Most of the squadrons were given specific
names or ordinal numbers (e. g. Women’s hundred, Medical hundred). People, who
were leading revolution on Internet, commenting and posting on social networks
instead of being physically present at dangerous locations in the streets of
the city, received an ironic name of a “sofa’s hundred”.
9. Два козаки – три гетьмани – Where
there are two Cossacks, there are three Hetmans
While “Cossack” is a name of an ordinary
soldier of Ukrainian army in XVII-XVIII century, Hetman is Commander in Chief
of the whole army and Head of State at the same time. This idiom stresses such
traits of Ukrainian national mentality as inability to obey authorities,
independence and urge for obtaining the power.
10. Говорили-балакали, сіли й заплакали
– We were chit-chatting, than we sat down and began crying
Idiom is used to describe a situation,
when you`ve been negotiating and thought, that you`ve reached some consensus,
but in the end of the conversation you suddenly realize that the whole argument
was useless and didn`t lead to any important results.
11. «Совок» – “sovok”
Literally having the same meaning as
“scoop”. Anything with a negative tinge of Soviet Union heritage (e.g.
primitive narrow-mindedness, poor functioning community services, bureaucracy
etc.)
12. Накрити стіл – To set the table
You don`t only set the table for family
dinners – usually you`re supposed to do that for a person, who`ve made you a
favor, person, to whom you owe something, to pay back – for example to your
Department members at university after you’ve graduated.
13. Гальорка – “gal`orka”
Literally having the same meaning as
“the gallery”, upper side of the theater on the opposite side of the stage, in
universities we use “gal`orka” to denote the last rows of the auditorium,
usually inhabited by D-students or ones, who want to have some sleep at the
lecture.
14. Зрада/перемога – Betrayal/victory
As this two words have been widely
mentioned and misplaced during Maidan events, Ukrainians got used to using this
high-flown concepts in their everyday life. For example, if your friend ate the
last cookie without sharing it with you – it`s #ABETRAYAL, and to be in time for
your train while you had chances to be late is #AVICTORY.
15. Подвійний листочок – Double sheet
Ukrainian schools are still using
specific types of notebooks for pupils, their size and formatting being
strictly regulated (for example, usually you are not allowed to use blank A4
sheets for your notes or tests). When the teacher announces that “Everyone
should tear a double sheet out of their notebooks right now”, it usually means
that the class is going to have a test, answers for which are written on the
abovementioned papers.
16. Перший хлопець на селі – The best
guy in the whole village
Used to ironically describe “the coolest
person” of some company or the one, who`s trying to appear that way, but fails.
17. А ваша Галя балувана – And your
Galya (Ukrainian name) is a spoiled girl
An idiom, used to describe a person,
who`s not satisfied while he or she actually should be; a person, who`s asking
for too much.
18. Вечорниці – “vechornitsi”
Traditional Ukrainian mass events, that
historically were a common type of social entertainment (mostly in villages):
people gathered to sing, dance and communicate. Nowadays this tradition is
still alive in some universities and as part of festivals, dedicated to
praising Ukrainian culture.
19. Проплачений мітинг – Pre-paid
meeting
Political demonstration, which is
organized and financed by a political party or an interested
person/organization. “Activists” who do that unpleasant job are most usually
students or retired people, for whom it became an easy source of income. Salary
is paid for every hour spent at the demonstration, shouting mottos loudly and
energetically waving flags. A sad but unfortunately widespread practice.
20. «Покращення» – Improvement
Was widely used by ex-president
Yanukovich during his promo campaign in 2010. Due to that fact, this word now
acquired a negative meaning – we call “an improvement” or “an improvement right
here and right now” any ineffective, useless, dumb or corrupt actions of
authorities.
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