Dirty Russian Slang - Everyday Slang

kho-lo-DYETS

Herring salad pod SHU-boi

This is like a big lump of fish salad covered with beets, eggs, potatoes, carrots, and mayonnaise.

Shashlik shash-LIK

More than a food, this Caucasian version of shish kabob brings with it a whole tradition of going out to the forest, building a fire, cooking up the marinated meat, washing it down with vodka, playing guitar, and having good drunken fun.

Vareniki… va-RYE-ni-ki…

These are sort of like pelmeni but with different kinds of fillings. In the U.S., they are usually called pierogies. The most common kinds are:

with potato

s kar-TOSH-koi

with cabbage s ka-PUS-toi

with sweet farmers cheese s TVO-ro-gom

with mushrooms s gri-BA-mi

with cherries s VISH-nyei

Bread khlyeb

Black bread

CHOR-nii khlyeb

Small dried circles of bread

SUSH-ki

Usually eaten with tea.

Gingerbread (sort of)

PRYA-ni-ki

Pirozhki pi-rozh-KI

Rolls filled with various things, most commonly potatoes, cabbage, or meat.

Dessert dye-SYERT

Apple pie

YA-bloch-nii pi-ROG

This is different from American apple pie. Instead of a crust with apple filling, it is more like a cake with apple chunks baked into the batter.

Napoleon na-po-lye-ON

This is a pastry with layers of flaky phyllo dough slathered with rich cream.

Bird milk

PTI-chye mo-lo-KO

This is sort of like little square pieces of marshmallow dipped in chocolate but not quite as sticky.

Bliny bli-NI

Also sometimes called (BLIN-chi-ki), these are basically crepes that can be served with such things as:

with honey s MYO-dom

with sweet farmers cheese s TVO-ro-gom

with sour cream so smye-TA-noi

with caviar s i-KROI

with jam

s va-RYE-nyem

Ice Cream mo-RO-zhe-no-ye

Creamy kind of ice cream plom-BIR

Ice cream bar es-ki-MO

About the Authors

Erin Coyne holds various degrees in Russian-related fields from Fordham University, Georgetown University, and UC Berkeley, where she is currently making depressingly slow progress on a PhD in Slavic Linguistics while teaching Russian classes on the side. In a former life, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer and later worked as an NGO program director which, for better or for worse, exiled her to nearly ten long years in the former Soviet Union. Her interests include yoga, long, alcohol-fueled train rides through Eastern Europe, and TV. Lots and lots of TV. In addition to English and Russian, Erin speaks six other languages with varying degrees of success.

Igor Fisun is a native of Kiev, Ukraine, which, in moments of nationalist pride, he prefers to spell Kyiv. He is a former student of Kiev PTU where he quickly abandoned all interest in ever holding down a real job and instead embarked upon a career in freelance engraving. His native languages are Russian and Ukrainian, and he hopes someday to learn English well enough to talk his way out of a traffic ticket. His interests include cooking, Japanese art, cheap wine, and pissing people off on internet forums. He is ridiculously proud of his orchid collection.

The authors are married and live in Albany, California, with their daughter, Myroslava, and their chihuahua, Chili.