Медвежья услуга (Medvezhya usluga)
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 (Tyanut' kota za khvost) — To procrastinate; to drag something out.
- Делать из мухи слона (Delat' iz mukhi slona) — To blow things way out of proportion.
- 对牛弹琴 (duì niú tán qín) — Reasoning with someone who cannot understand.
- 画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú) — To ruin something by adding unnecessary extras.
- 鸡同鸭讲 (jī tóng yā jiǎng) — Complete miscommunication; talking past each other.
- 老虎屁股摸不得 (Lǎohǔ pìgu mō bu dé) — Don't provoke someone powerful or dangerous.
More Russian idioms
- душа нараспашку (dusha naraspashku) — Extremely open, trusting, or emotionally vulnerable with others.
- работать спустя рукава (rabotat' spustya rukava) — To work carelessly, half-heartedly, without proper effort or attention.
- заморить червячка (zamorit' chervyachka) — To have a light snack or small meal to satisfy hunger temporarily.
- медведь на ухо наступил (medved' na ukho nastupil) — To lack musical ability or have poor sense of pitch and rhythm.
- пускать пыль в глаза (puskat' pyl' v glaza) — To deceive or mislead someone, creating false impressions through trickery.
- Ни пуха ни пера (Ni pukha ni pera) — Good luck — to which the ritual reply is 'To the devil!'.
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