6 ‘drinking’ expressions
We've selected some of the most vivid expressions in the Russian language related to drinking alcohol – from the very beginning of a party to its inevitable aftermath the next morning.
1. «Под мухой» ("Pod mukhoi" or “Under the fly”) generally means to be slightly tipsy. According to one version, ‘mukha’ (‘fly’) was a card game (its participants certainly didn't refuse a shot or two), the winner of which was congratulated "s mukhoi" (“with the fly”). Over time, the expression evolved into the more convenient and colorful "pod mukhoi" (“under the fly”). Another derivative of the phrase was ‘mukhi’ (‘flies’): small shot glasses, 10-20 ml each, that were given free to pub patrons as a welcome drink. And savvy drinkers would wander from establishment to establishment, taking a shot at each, increasing the level of their own merriment.
2. «Подшофе» (“Podshofe” or "Tipsy") means the party has begun, but hasn’t yet reached the point of unbridled joy. The expression comes from the French word ‘échauffée’ (which translates as ‘warmed up’, ‘tipsy’), to which the Russian preposition ‘под’ (‘under’) was added. It was quite popular in the 19th century and was even used in literature. "The guests stopped being embarrassed. The reason for this was… a rumor, a whisper, a report that the guest, it seems, was under the boss," recounted the character in Fyodor Dostoevsky's ‘A Nasty Joke’.
3. «Заложить за воротник» (“Zalozhit' za vorotnik” or "To put it by the collar") — Viktor Vinogradov, compiler of the ‘Dictionary of the Russian Language’, believed that this expression originated with officers and originally sounded like "to put it by the tie". It was a joking term for a person who was tipsy, that is, slightly drunk.
4. «На рогах» или «на бровях» (“Na rogakh”/“na brovyakh” or "On the horns"/ "On the eyebrows")
These are the phrases used to describe a very drunk person, who, like a gored bull, staggers and bows its head. A person at a party in such a state might be ironically described like this: «Эээ, да он готовенький!» (“Eee, da on “gotovenkiy!” or "Eh, he's ready!'")
5. «В стельку» (“V stel'ku” or "To the point of being drunk") means someone is so drunk they can't stand up straight and are literally sprawled on the ground. Another way to say this is: «Пьян вдрабадан» (“Pyan vdrabadan”) или «В дым» (“V dym”) or "Drunk as a skunk."
6. «С бодуна» (“S boduna” or "Hangover") literally means after a boisterous drinking session with a lot of alcohol. According to one theory, the expression originated from the resemblance of an intoxicated person to a bull – again, their head droops, as if about to gore someone.
There's also a much more prosaic theory: ‘bodun’ originated from the word ‘bodnya’, which was the name given to barrels in which pickles and various beverages were kept. In other words, «c бодуна» meant congratulating someone who had drunk a whole barrel of something intoxicating. Vladimir Dahl's explanatory dictionary gives the following example: «дать бодуна, бодка» (“dat boduna, bodka” or "to have a hangover".)
