до посинения
Meaning: To do something with extreme effort or persistence, usually futilely.
Language: Russian
Literally: until blueness
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The phrase pictures someone straining so hard their face turns blue from exertion or holding their breath.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- на коленке — Done hastily and without proper tools or technique; improvised or makeshift.
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
- Couper les cheveux en quatre — To over-analyze or split hairs.
- Se regarder le nombril — To be self-centered or narcissistic.
- Tomaten auf den Augen haben — To be oblivious to what's right in front of you.
More Russian idioms
- горе луковое — A person who is accident-prone, hapless, or bumbling; one who causes trouble by their own…
- огород городить — To make a fuss or create complicated problems over something trivial; to engage in useles…
- на честном слове и на одном крыле — Succeeding or surviving by the barest margin, through luck or desperation rather than sol…
- развесистая клюква — Ignorant stereotypes and tall tales about Russia, especially those peddled by foreigners.
- сыграть в ящик — To die.
- нашего полку прибыло — Another person has joined a group or shared predicament; a welcome to the club.
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