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ходить вокруг да около (khodit' vokrug da okolo)

Meaning: To avoid speaking plainly; to approach a subject indirectly or evasively.

Language: Russian

Literally: to walk around yes and near

Category: Daily Life

Origin: The image is of circling around something without ever reaching it directly, reflecting the speaker's reluctance to be straightforward.

More idioms — Daily Life

  • пан или пропал (pan ili propal) — To risk everything on a single venture; all or nothing, sink or swim.
  • огород городить (ogorod gorodit') — To make a fuss or create complicated problems over something trivial; to engage in useles…
  • сыграть в ящик (sygrat' v yashchik) — To die.
  • нашего полку прибыло (nashego polku pribylo) — Another person has joined a group or shared predicament; a welcome to the club.
  • на славу (na slavu) — Excellently; very well; in a first-rate manner.
  • вводить в заблуждение (vvodit' v zabluzhdenie) — To deceive or mislead someone deliberately.

More Russian idioms

  • гнать в три шеи (gnat' v tri shei) — To expel or drive someone away forcefully and without ceremony.
  • полтора землекопа (poltora zemlyekopa) — An absurdly small group; a nonsensical quantity that defies rational measure.
  • язык проглотил (yazyk proglotil) — To be unable or unwilling to speak; to remain silent when words are called for.
  • метать бисер перед свиньями (metat' biser pered svin'yami) — To offer something precious or refined to someone incapable of appreciating it.
  • сушить сухари (sushit' sukhari) — To prepare oneself mentally and materially for imprisonment or arrest.
  • отбросить копыта (otbrosit' kopyta) — To die, to kick the bucket.

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