25 Must-Know Slang Phrases in Russian language

Like other languages of our amazing world have tremendous amount of slang phrases, Russian is not an exclusion of this rule. Modern Russian language developed hundreds variations for each of the normal word. Even small declensions and ending changes can create absolutely different meaning or situation where this Russian slang word might be used. Russian slang is not only used by young representatives of our culture but also by older people. It’s part of Russian culture to simplify communication with each other. And even if for someone some of those Russian phrases might be viewed as not a slang but regular phrase, we assure you that it’s still a slang. We suggest not to use them in conversation where you want to be known as a highly educated man. You need to know those phrases only because when you hear it from your Russian friends you can know the meaning of what they are talking about.

We will provide you with short explanations to each of the phrases and situation where it can be used mostly.

1.  Да не гони! – Literal meaning – “Don’t go that fast” or “Don’t drive fast”. But in reality the contextual meaning: a) You are talking something unreal; b) I cannot believe you; c) You are saying something that I don’t believe it’s a truth; d) Don’t lie.
2. Чё ты гонишь мне? – This Russian slang phrase means basically the same as previous one. Just another way saying so.
3. Хватит базарить не по теме! – It’s hard to explain the literal meaning but it’s more like: “Enough of this, change the topic”. It’s usually used when you want to someone to be quiet and change the topic of the discussion. Keep in mind it’s rather rude form of slang, so be careful using it.
4.  Ну нифига себе! – The meaning of this Russian slang is that you express your amazement. Slang phrase means a surprise that you did not expect. More like “Wow” in English but in more complicated way of saying it.
5. Да ну нафиг! – This Russian slang phrase is short and very precise. It means: “I don’t want to it” or “F*ck it I don’t want to deal with it”. Any way both English meaning combined in one Russian equals the phrase that you’d do not want to use but still need to know it.
6. Мне пофиг или Мне до лампочки. – Those equal to each other phrases mean the same: “I don’t care!” But first one is more rude than the second. We would say the second is childish phrase and doesn’t bring anything negative  nor anything positive.
7. Не страдай всякой фигнёй! – Literally it means: Do not suffer from any garbage! You can have a hunch that it is something about doing wrong or unnecessary. Which goes like this: Don’t do that because it doesn’t make any sense or it’s just not worth it.
8. Я просто кайфую от тебя! – That is a nice slang phrase. And let us explain why. Because it basically has the compliment accenting. When you say: “I’m just excited about  you!” or “I’m just thrilled because of you”.
9. Это уже полный зашквар! – The word зашквар has the meaning that something was overdone. Which brings us to the point that this Russian slang means: “This is too much” or when you say it to somebody that he or she did something too complicated or overdone.
10. Слушай, не тормози на повороте! – “Listen, do not brake on the turn!” We gave you the direct meaning before the explanation because it is so clear to get a clue of the idea when you can use it. But we have to give you a short explanation anyway. This Russian slang phrase is widely used in a situation when people want to rush  or to hurry someone and they say: Come on, don’t be silly/stupid and continue doing it right. Which means when you brake or stop on turns you slow down the process so it is getting too slow.
11. Кажется, Адрей жёстко морозится от нас. – “Seems Adrey rigidly freezes from us.” Does it make sense to you? If no then let’s explain it. In Russian slang culture “to freeze from someone” means to avoid meeting with someone. Other words “to avoid” of seeing anybody. So this phrase means: Seems Andrey is very much avoiding to meet with us.
12. Антон гасится от ментов. – The same meaning as previous slang phrase but with slightly different accent. This phrase would be said by some young criminal boy than average teenager.
13. Света продинамила своего парня вчера вечером. – For this phrase we want you to imaging a situation, where one girl with name Sveta went on a date with a boy. After having fun with that boy on a date she simply said “goodbye” but not continue the evening with him. Hopefully, you understand what we mean by that. So for some cultures it can be very strange but for Russian culture it is quite usual situation. So that boy can say a slang phrase: Sveta “left her boyfriend with no bonuses” after a date or the meaning like “Sveta refused to continue the date with her boyfriend”. And if to be precise, her boyfriend wanted to have some intimate relationships with Sveta, but she didn’t want to comply with her boyfriend’s expectations.
14. Давай побазарим! – What you can see from Russian text is English literal translation: “Let’s marketing”. Most likely it won’t make sense to you. Russian slang verb “базарить” means “to market” (it has nothing to do with this word directly but the verb базарить derives from the noun базар which is market in English). You know that “market” is a crowded place and people speak loudly there. That’s why “базарить” means slang version “to talk” in Russian.
15. Братан, ты спалился! – The word “братан” is a slang version of “brother”. And the verb “спалиться” – has the meaning “to be burned out”. So slang phrase means: “Bro, you got spotted” or “Bro, somebody saw you” (when actually “bro” did not want anybody to see him).
16. Я сегодня жёстко туплю. – This one is very simple: “I am very stupid today” or “I’m thinking slow  today”.
17. Это жесть какая-то. – In this Russian phrase the word “жесть” means more like “crazy”, something that is unusual. When you see how you Bro being drunk trying to do somersaults and it’s his 5^th attempt… That is “жесть” and expresses: “what is going on here, it’s crazy”.
18. Чувак, угомонись! – It’s simple: “Dude, calm down!”
19. Я нихрена не вижу. – “I don’t see anything” but it’s a quite rude way of saying so. Pay attention where to apply this phrase.
20. Это очень залепательная статья про русский сленг. – In this case, we need to explain one word so you could understand the whole sentence. It’s adjective: “залепательный” – slang word that means something is so interesting that you can’t look away and stop reading. The current phrase basically means the following: “It’s very interesting article about Russian slang”. Not a bad slang and can be used in daily conversations with young people of Russian nationality.
21. Давай похаваем. – “Let’s eat something”. Simple, short but indecently as well. So try not to say like this.
22. Офигеть ты крутой чувак! – This phrase has the word “чувак” and you already know it very well. (see 18^th phrase from this list). But “офигеть” may be a new word for you and it means “go nuts”. So the full meaning is somewhat like: “Crazy (go nuts), you are a cool dude!” – It’s short and concise.
23. Этот Америкос чумовой тип! – There is a Russian slang word for American citizens “Америкос”. It’s not that rude word but it’s a common Russians phrase. The second word is adjective “чумовой” means funny, crazy and mad but in all good sense of the word. This word derives from the Russian word “чума” – plague (disease). But again it is used to describe a guy that he is full-of-life person that knows how to party and feel himself happy/enjoyed with its life.
24. Хорош грузить меня постоянно. – In this case the Russian word “хорош” means “enough” in slang world. And the verb “грузить” has the normal dictionary meaning “to load (on)” and it describes someone or something “loading extra weight (problems, question and complicated situation, etc)”. Which the full phrase means: “Enough constantly putting/loading problems and issues on my head” or “Stop bother me constantly”.
25. Пошарить в карманах будет не лишним! – This phrase is quite normal except the first word “пошарить” which means “to search for something” or “look for something”. Of course it’s again Russian phrase is meant as slang. You’d better not use this slang in civil environments because you might be understood incorrectly. English translation would be: “To look in pockets will not be superfluous” or “To search in pockets will not be superfluous” (It’s needed to look into pockets, maybe something can be found there). 

 See also: 150+ Smart Russian Phrases that You Should Know