Plenty of contribution already,so I'll just add a personal anecdote. Some years ago I happened to have some beers with a Latvian Russian,who lived here, in London. He tells us that he doesn't get the Brits. He just doesn't understand the reasoning in some situations. I ask to elaborate. He says: last year, I had a pretty serious trauma and ended up in a hospital. It's so bad, pain, lots of tests,etc. And I'm pretty f…
The typical reply in Russian to "How are you" is "normalno" (normal), which I always thought should appeal to computer geeks
I'm curious, how do Russians determine someone is in a bad mood from body/face language? In the US I can tell when my colleagues aren't happy the moment they walk in the room by their face. In Russia, do they have to speak in order for you to determine this or is there some other cue? Maybe if they smile?
if they say Suka Blyat, then they must be angry.
Just greet them with this phrase, and if they laugh in response - they are in a good mood, and if they dont- bad mood
A few years ago Masha Gessen did an episode of Conversations With Tyler , a podcast hosted by Tyler Cowen, and at one point she said this about Russian friendships [1]: > ... I think that — and this may answer your question — Russian friendships are much more emotional and intense than American friendships [...] When I moved back to [the USA] five and a half years ago, it was like this sense of whiplash because I had…
That is a great quote, though I have a minor quibble about alcohol being necessary as some of the Russians I befriended were former alcoholics and sober for years. Though others drank beer at dawn. I found I made deep friendships more easily after speaking even a bit of Russian. If you can say "My name is X" and "awesome" and a couple other small phrases it helps. That said, it wasn't until I had put in around 1000 h…
Could you give some examples of some Russian words that are more enduring than English words? I've always been fascinated by this.
Check out the thesis of the recent bestseller Breath by James Nestor. Native American and other traditional cultures put serious emphasis on nose breathing, strictly avoiding mouth breathing. Apparently, consistent nose-breathing can affect nasal and upper-palate development, favoring a spacious mouth and straighter teeth. It can also help avoid dry mouth at night, apparently favoring resistance to dental caries. The…
That seems natural and obvious? But unless you have a secret mucus prevention technique, you'll mouth breathe.
I was born with a deviated septum and for the first 15 years of my life I just assumed breathing through one’s mouth was normal and the nose was just for smelling things. After surgery I started breathing through my nose without conscious thought for the first time.
I've worked with several Russians and I noticed that they type the smile emoticon without the colon... So instead of :) it's just ). For laughing it's ))))))) What's up with that? )
It wasn’t known that beets could be exploited for sugar until the 16th century. Sugar cane was not known in Europe (outside Muslim-ruled areas of Spain) until post-Colombian times. In antiquity, the sole common means of sweetening food in Europe was honey, and later dulce de leche .
Or extracts from sweet fruit like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powidl
A friend of mine who had lived in the USA long enough to pick up some local traits had to go back to Russia to renew his expiring documents.
One required a fresh photo to be taken. The guy who was readily available next door for the occasion felt a bit uneasy about doing his job.
After several discarded takes he finally figured it out: "Stop stretching your lips!".
I've worked with several Russians and I noticed that they type the smile emoticon without the colon... So instead of :) it's just ). For laughing it's ))))))) What's up with that? )
My pet theory is that it takes more effort with a Russian keyboards to type the smiley face. With English, you do "SHIFT + ;" for the colon and then "SHIFT+0" for the bracket. When I type it, I hold down SHIFT with my right pinkie, and hit ";" with my middle finger. I then outstretch my pointer to hit 0. It's mostly a single fluid motion. With Russian, you have to engage two hands instead of one. We have more letters…
Using one vs two hands is a huge difference in convenience. I think this is the best version I've ever heard.
Check out the thesis of the recent bestseller Breath by James Nestor. Native American and other traditional cultures put serious emphasis on nose breathing, strictly avoiding mouth breathing. Apparently, consistent nose-breathing can affect nasal and upper-palate development, favoring a spacious mouth and straighter teeth. It can also help avoid dry mouth at night, apparently favoring resistance to dental caries. The…
That seems natural and obvious? But unless you have a secret mucus prevention technique, you'll mouth breathe.
Yes, certainly for heavy congestion. However, for marginal cases, there might be some body adaptation made to help with efforts at nose breathing. .. Nestor avoids giving specific recommendations, given individual variations and needs. But the research seems to point to: there is a lot going on. For example, apparently the nose contains erectile tissue, perhaps helping explain how one can cycle between now one nostril being easier to breathe through, later the other. .. My very limited experience, living where I would usually call myself "always congested," is that given a little effort/intent at nose breathing, I now sense that my congestion is consistently less than before. (But N<1 as evidence, since there could be some seasonal change as well.)
There's actually a regional difference. Growing up on the east coast in New York people rarely smiled at each other on the street. Someone you didn't know smiling at you could mean a crazy person, or some sort of con artist trying to suck you into interacting with them. Living on the west coast for the last twenty years, the situation is totally different. On a bike trail, on the sidewalk, people often smile and nod…
Yea, I noticed east/west coast friendships are different too.