Who is called a ‘deaf grouse’?

It's all about love, of course. And observant hunters. They were the first to notice an unusual characteristic of wood grouse (or black grouse). When the mating season begins in the spring, the males put on quite a show: they make distinctive sounds, accompanied by a spectacular dance. The black grouse unfurls its tail and slightly lowers its wings, then, rolling its eyes, throws back its head to sing another "aria" for the female. At this moment, the bird, as hunters say, can be picked up with bare hands – it sees and hears nothing, so absorbed in its love song.

Knowing this, hunters could approach the black grouse (or ‘teterya’, as they are also called in Russian) virtually undetected during mating season. Thanks to their observant nature, the Russian term ‘глухая тетеря’ (‘glukhaya teterya’ or ‘deaf grouse’) has emerged. It’s a metaphorical way of describing someone who doesn't notice anything around them, a clueless person who isn't particularly quick-witted.

In the 19th century, the word ‘teterya’ made its way into fiction. "A deaf black grouse will see you off," a character in Nikolai Leskov's short story ‘Musk Ox’ says. The word began to be used to emphasize not only dullness or deafness, but also other negative qualities. A ‘sleepy grouse’ was a term for someone who liked to linger in bed or was generally sluggish. Griboyedov's ‘Woe from Wit’ featured a lazy black grouse: it was used to describe Famusov's servant, who "knows nothing, senses nothing". While composer Modest Mussorgsky wrote a song about a drunken grouse – a drunkard scolded by his wife.

An English equivalent would be: “Deaf as a post.”