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- Topic: Russian >
- "У меня болит большой палец."
35 Comments
- Большой палец - literally "big finger"
- Указательный палец - literally "index finger"
- Средний палец - literally "middle finger"
- Безымянный палец - literally "nameless finger"
- Мизинец - literally "youngest, smallest" (Old Slavonic)
It's the same in Finnish: nimetön (nameless, you don't even specify it's a finger, sormi).
Ha! In Sweden, we call the nameless finger ringfingret, i.e. the ring finger, because we always have our wedding rings on that one. Do Russian also wear their wedding rings on their безымянные палцы (на своих безымянных палцах)?
407
Same in Spanish, "dedo anular" :) (for/with the ring). In Spanish almost exact coincidence with Russian but the fourth, and coincide with Swedish on it. So cool. "Dedo gordo" literally means fat finger, but it's pretty close. Index, middle and smallest exact matches.
That's pretty much international ;) Most English-speaking countries (US and Canada excluded, I believe) also use the index and middle finger together, separated somewhat, rather like a scissors, to convey the same meaning.
With the palm facing inwards, that is. . . Otherwise it's the peace sign haha
The story goes that showing one's finger(s) originated with English longbow archers who indicated to their French enemies that they could still shoot (as cutting off English prisoners' fingers so that they could be released alive was considered the merciful alternative).
- 238
So the shortest finger is called big. Is it used ironically, or because it's thicker than the other fingers?
obviously because it's thicker, in the same way your big toe is the fat one. It says big, not long. Besides, your little finger is shorter than your thumb.
- 556
No. It's very annoying. Perhaps Americans don't say this? I don't know. I reported, anyway, because it seems totally fine.
- 414
Same here! The app is not geared to accept all the possible correct answers. Just moving on to the next question. We know our answer was correct.
I think it's ok that it's not accepted, because "sore" is an adjective, whereas in the Russian the information is contained in the verb.
I put "My big toe hurts", which.. as far as I'm aware is correct in the right context. I know it wanted thumb here, but what if I just stubbed my big toe, surely this is a reasonable translation.
If большой палец is specifically thumb, I would like to have seen that earlier, before running into it during a review exercise... I'd also thought "big toe" was a more likely translation. Much as I appreciate this course, it sometimes seems a little disorganized...
How do you say "big toe"?
- 182
Probably because it means that YOU have hurt your thumb. Your thumb could hurt for many reasons which may or may not be your fault.
I wrote "my big thumb hurts." Before I submit my answer, I had a feeling that it was "thumb" but I just wanted to test the waters. This is a dirty trick to steal peoples hearts! Reported. Good thing I am on desktop!
