IdiomBody & Senses
Russian
Russianпудрить мозги (pudrit' mozgi)
Meaning: To mislead someone with false or nonsensical talk; to deceive or confuse deliberately.
Literally: To powder the brains
Example: “Не пудри мне мозги: я знаю, сколько это стоит.” — Don't try to pull the wool over my eyes; I know what it costs.
English equivalent: To pull the wool over someone's eyes
Other ways to say this
French: Raconter des salades Literally: To tell salads- Russian: Не вешай лапшу на уши (Ne veshay lapshu na ushi) Literally: Don't hang noodles on my ears
Latvian: Pūst pīlītes Literally: To blow little ducks
Romanian: A umbla cu cioara vopsită Literally: To go around with a painted crow
English: pull the wool over someone's eyes- French: Jeter de la poudre aux yeux Literally: To throw powder in the eyes
- English: tell tall tales
Origin: To powder someone's brains is to fool them with talk, cloud their thinking with nonsense. Fedorov's phrase dictionary labels it low colloquial and quotes it from Soviet-era fiction; its origin is not documented, and it has no particular story behind it.
More Russian idioms
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- зарывать свой талант в землю (zaryvat' svoy talant v zemlyu) to waste or hide one's natural gifts instead of using them.
- в лес дрова возить (v les drova vozit') to do something pointless or redundant; to offer something to someone who already has ple…
- сражаться с ветряными мельницами (srazhat'sya s vetryanymi mel'nitsami) To struggle against imaginary or futile enemies; to waste effort on impossible causes.
- ходить вокруг да около (khodit' vokrug da okolo) To avoid speaking plainly; to approach a subject indirectly or evasively.
- полтора землекопа (poltora zemlyekopa) A ridiculously small number of people; a handful.
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