Who is ‘Curious Varvara’ and why was “her nose torn off”?

However, let's start from the beginning. In the old days, a ‘нос’ (‘nos’ or ‘nose’) was a special board or tag on which special marks were placed, to record things like debts owed, days of the week and/or purchases made. Basically, everything that needed to be remembered.

Let's say someone lent money – the lender would mark both his own and the borrower's ‘noses’. And when the borrower returned the money, he crossed out the mark. It could be said that this was an ancient version of a calendar with reminders, a daily planner and even a calculator, which even an illiterate person could use.

“Любопытной Варваре на базаре нос оторвали” (“Lyubopytnoy Varvare na bazare nos otorvali” or “Curious Varvara's nose was torn off at the market”. The Varvara in this proverb is essentially a collective image of an overly curious person, whose intrusive interest constantly irritates and annoys those around her. This is why she has “lost her ‘nose’”: as retaliation or as a lesson, someone tore off an important mark off her ‘nose’. So, she was left with nothing – no debts to repay, no important meetings to remember.

Nowadays, this expression is used to remind everyone that excessive curiosity can lead to unpleasant consequences.