Russian Language and Mentality (part 2)

Our first part of Russian Language and Mentatily was about the Russian speech rules.

The Russian etiquette

For Russians, words (and smile) достаточно серьёзные вещи (are rather serious things), and they don’t waste them on формальности (formalities), этикет (etiquette) and вежливости (politeness). During the Soviet period, иерархия отношений (the hierarchical relations) where destroyed, so that nowadays Russian language is quite poor with polite expressions. So there will be no знаков галантности (signs of gallantry), no форм благодарности (forms of gratitude) no легкого разговора о пустяках (small talks about trifles in conversations).

A good conversation the Russian way

A good conversation это разговор “по душам” (is a “heart to heart” conversation), in opposition to “глупой” светской болтовни (a “stupid” small talk). For Russians, a conversation is a long, open exchange with a close friend which doesn’t need formalities, but only to be sincere and to come from the heart. Such talk can cover any subject: personal affairs, professional problems, politics, philosophy, but должен быть “умным” (should be “sensible”). “С умным разговориться – что меду напиться” (To have a sensible conversation is like to drink honey).

There are no taboos, but there are preferences in “высоких тем” (“lofty topics”): the meaning of life, the future of Russia, literature, politics. Note that since both interlocutors initially understand each other, the resources of the language are often omitted and the conversation can continue with the digression of lexical and syntactic rules.

Here’s the list of words with examples to help you understand the meaning more easily:

• Простор (spaciousness)