RussianВодить за нос (Vodit' za nos)
Meaning: To deceive or string someone along.
Literally: To lead by the nose
Example: “Подрядчик три месяца водил нас за нос.” — The contractor led us up the garden path for three months.
English equivalent: To lead someone up the garden path
Equivalents in other languages
Polish: Robić kogoś w konia Literally: To make someone into a horse
Hungarian: Lóvá tesz valakit Literally: To make a horse of someone
English: lead someone up the garden path
Origin: The usual explanation, given in a Russian phrase handbook, is the way animals such as bulls were led by a ring through the nostrils, going wherever they were pulled; the dancing bears of Russian fairs are often said to have been led the same way. The image is old and shared: Michelson's 19th-century dictionary lists a Greek proverb, Goethe's Faust (an der Nase herumziehen), French mener par le nez and English "lead by the nose." Being led by the nose is being fooled and manipulated.
More Russian idioms
- Бить баклуши (Bit' baklushi) To loaf about doing nothing.
- Остаться с носом (Ostat'sya s nosom) To be left empty-handed or outwitted.
- Как сельдь в бочке (Kak sel'd' v bochke) Packed together very tightly.
- Делать ноги (Delat' nogi) To run away quickly.
- Заговаривать зубы (Zagovarivat' zuby) To distract someone with smooth, evasive talk.
- Вешать всех собак (Veshat' vsekh sobak) To blame someone for everything.
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Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
- Magazin (Магазин) (Magazin) Actually means 'shop' or 'store'. A magazine (periodical) is журнал (zhurnal).
- Familiya (Фамилия) (Familiya) Actually means 'surname'. A family is семья (semya).
- Intelligentny (Интеллигентный) (Intelligentnyy) Actually means 'cultured' and 'well-mannered'. For clever, say умный (umny).
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