через огонь, воду и медные трубы (cherez ogon', vodu i mednye truby)
Meaning: To endure any hardship or ordeal without hesitation; to go through anything for someone or something.
Language: Russian
Literally: through fire, water, and copper pipes
Category: Nature
Origin: The phrase draws on ancient tests of courage and purification—fire and water as primal obstacles. The copper pipes may reflect Russian folk imagery or later literary use, though the core image of fire and water is ancient.
More idioms — Nature
- за тридевять земель (za tridevyat' zemel') — An extremely distant, remote place; somewhere impossibly far away.
- в лес дрова возить (v les drova vozit') — to do something pointless or redundant; to offer something to someone who already has ple…
- Avoir le vent en poupe — To be doing very well; everything is going your way.
- Avoir la tête dans les nuages — To be a daydreamer; out of touch with reality.
- Jeter de l'huile sur le feu — To make a bad situation worse.
- faire la pluie et le beau temps — Having complete control over a situation or someone's fate.
More Russian idioms
- книга за семью печатями (kniga za sem'yu pechatyami) — Something utterly mysterious and incomprehensible; a complete enigma.
- в Тулу со своим самоваром (v Tulu so svoim samovarom) — To do something pointless or wasteful; to bring something unnecessary or redundant to a p…
- проверять на вшивость (proveryat' na shivost') — To scrutinize or investigate someone closely to uncover hidden faults or problems; to vet…
- в долгах как в шелках (v dolgakh kak v shelkakh) — To be deeply and hopelessly in debt.
- положа руку на сердце (polozhá ruku na sérdtse) — Speaking with complete sincerity and honesty.
- до свадьбы заживёт (do svad'by zazhivyot) — A minor injury or problem will resolve itself naturally and quickly.
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