A weird type of a Russian dog

You've met this dog before, you just didn't know it was called a dog. In Russian language the symbol @ is called собака (sobaka, a dog) or собачка (sobachka, a small dog). I don't know any other name for @ in Russian.

There are two theories about the origin of this word. One states that @ in certain Soviet computers had a shorter “tail” and looked more like a dog. Another version is that in some game called Adventure there was a dog following a player, and @ was its symbol.

Russian language can be cute as well! :)

Read also about what Russian email and soap have in common here.

Read a Wikipedia article about @ in Russian here.

Russian word with 3 "E" in a row

  My grandfather once asked me, if I knew a word with three "e" in a row. I couldn't think of any. He told me that the word was длинношеее, long-necked (neutral form). I didn't believe it and had to write it down to see for myself :).

длинношеее

dlin-no-she-ye-ye

It's made from длинный (long) and шея (neck). Masculine form is длинношеий, feminine - длинношеяя.

For example, длинношеее животное — long-necked animal

or длинношеее создание — long-necked creature.

Russian words for “both”

  There are two words (or rather, two forms of a word) for “both” in Russian language:

оба — for masculine and neutral nouns

обе — for feminine nouns.

Examples:

masc.

оба носка — both socks

оба друга — both friends

neutral

оба ведра — both buckets

оба солнца — both suns

fem.

обе девушки — both girls

обе стороны — both sides

Sentences:

When Russian prepositions are in love...

  What happens when two prepositions meet and fall in love? They want to stay together!

That's what happened a long time ago when two Russian prepositions из (from) met за (behind) and под (under). They liked each other so much that they merged into new prepositions — из-за (from behind) and из-под (from under). Let's see how they are used nowadays.

ИЗ-ЗА

Кот вытащил игрушку из-за дивана.

The cat pulled its toy from behind the sofa.

Из-за горы показалось солнце.

Sun appeared from behind a mountain.

This preposition also has another meaning – из-за can mean 'because'.

Word game

  My husband and I sometimes play this simple word game. He is a Finn and he studies Russian. I'm a Russian who studies Finnish. So we play it in Finnish or Russian. The rules are simple. You say a word, the next person says a word starting from the last letter of the first word, and so on.

машина — ананас — сок — кожа — апельсин — норма — авария — яхта

If you are learning Russian, you could play this game with someone. You will have to recall all the Russian words you know and pay attention to how words are spelled, so it's good practice. Russians usually have a rule of using only nouns, but it's up to you how you want to play it. If the word ends with ь (there are no words in Russian language that start with it), then you need to use previous letter.

Wings, legs and tails

  I'm making videos for this blog now (there'll be a special Youtube channel for 33 letters ^^), so while I'm busy with them you can watch this wonderful and a bit crazy Russian cartoon. Enjoy!

Wings, legs and tails
Крылья, ноги и хвосты

A Funny Russian Word

  The other day we had guests from Russia, and they wondered how to translate a certain Russian word to English. We couldn't find an exact translation :). The word is хомячить (homyachit'), made from хомяк — a hamster. It's a verb that describes eating greedily, stuffing your mouth like a hamster.

I guess we can translate it as 'to hamster'? :) It's a pretty new word, you probably will not find it in Pushkin's poems, but isn't the word cute? It seems to me it's usually used when talking about people, not other animals. Hard to imagine a hamstering cat :).

Examples: