Медвежья услуга
Meaning: Help that actually makes things worse.
Language: Russian
Literally: A bear's service
Category: Animals
Origin: From Krylov's 1808 fable where a bear kills a fly on its master's head with a log.
More idioms — Animals
- Тянуть кота за хвост — To procrastinate; to drag something out.
- Делать из мухи слона — To blow things way out of proportion.
- 对牛弹琴 — Reasoning with someone who cannot understand.
- 画蛇添足 — To ruin something by adding unnecessary extras.
- 鸡同鸭讲 — Complete miscommunication; talking past each other.
- 老虎屁股摸不得 — Don't provoke someone powerful or dangerous.
More Russian idioms
- душа нараспашку — Extremely open, trusting, or emotionally vulnerable with others.
- работать спустя рукава — To work carelessly, half-heartedly, without proper effort or attention.
- заморить червячка — To have a light snack or small meal to satisfy hunger temporarily.
- медведь на ухо наступил — To lack musical ability or have poor sense of pitch and rhythm.
- пускать пыль в глаза — To deceive or mislead someone, creating false impressions through trickery.
- Ни пуха ни пера — Good luck — to which the ritual reply is 'To the devil!'.
Loading the full interactive collection…