Russian-English Dictionary of Proverbs and Sayings

by Alexander Margulis, Asya Kholodnaya

This dictionary contains 2,375 Russian sayings and proverbs and their English counterparts. Variants of each saying are included, and careful attention is given to the differences in British and American versions. For example, the Russian saying that translates literally as "Children behave in a childish way, and they cannot be expected to act like grown-up people," is first given in Russian (in the Cyrillic alphabet) and then in literal English, and is then followed by the nearest English-language equivalent sayings in Britain and the United "Young colts will canter" (British) and "Boys will be boys" (American). The proverbs and sayings are arranged alphabetically by the first Russian word (in the Cyrillic alphabet) and are cross-referenced so the reader can find analogous Russian versions of English sayings. There is a keyword index for each language (one in English, one in Russian in the Cyrillic alphabet), which allows the reader to find a saying without knowing the first word. Sayings are current and include those popular in both spoken Russian and literature. The prefatory matter is in both English and Russian, for readers who have a command of either language.

487 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2000