If you have already read our previous article about Russian idioms or learned some Russian, you know that Russian idioms can be very confusing. Today we will look at some popular Russian idioms about parts of the face: eyes, nose, and tongue. Some Russian teachers use them as a funny illustration of how the meaning of a whole phrase can vary from the meanings of the words it is composed with.
Let’s start with eyes (глаза). Most expressions presented here use the word глаза to underline that an action is taking place at the exact moment, just in front of your eyes.
– С глазу на глаз (‘from an eye to an eye’) – Face to face.
– Пускать пыль в глаза (‘to throw dust in the eyes’) – To splurge.
– Мозолить глаза (‘to get a callus in eyes’) – To irritate someone with your presence.
– Говорить за глаза (‘to talk behind eyes’) – To talk behind someone’s back.
– Говорить в глаза (‘to talk in front of eyes’) – To express openly.
– Хлопать глазами (‘to clap with eyes’) – To be idle.
– Резать глаза (‘to cut eyes’) – To make a negative impression.
– Глаза разбегаются (‘eyes are running away’) – To not know what to look at first.
The next face part of our list is the nose (нос). Some expressions use this word to illustrate an actual move:
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Free and effective!– Задирать нос (to raise your nose) – To behave arrogantly.
– Вешать нос (to lower your nose) – To become upset.
– Клевать носом (to peck with your nose) – To fall asleep.
Others are very metaphoric:
– Зарубить на носу (to cut on a nose) – To remember well.
– Водить за нос (to lead by the nose) – To fool someone.
– Остаться с носом (to be left with a nose) – To hold the bag.
Probably, you already know some expressions with язык (tongue) from your Russian course, but there are a lot more popular idioms with язык that Russians use. These expressions are very illustrative, so sometimes it is even possible to guess the meaning:
– Язык без костей (a tongue without bones) – Very talkative.
– Тянуть за язык (to pull a tongue) – To force someone to speak.
– Острый на язык (to have a sharp tongue) – Sarcastic and biting in conversations.
– Держать язык за зубами (to keep a tongue behind teeth) – To keep a secret.
– Найти общий язык (to find a common tongue) – To find a common ground.
– Проглотить язык (to swallow a tongue) – To keep silent.
– Чесать языком (to scratch with a tongue) – To say nothing important.
These are all expressions for today. We hope that it will make your learning of Russian more interesting. Do you like these idioms? Do you have something similar in your mother tongue?