Б-147 • НИ БОГУ СВЕЧКА (СВЕЧА) НИ ЧЁРТУ КОЧЕРГА highly coll, disapprov [NP; these forms only; subj-compl with copula (subj: usu. human); fixed WO] undistinguished, mediocre, devoid of striking characteristics: X ни богу свечка ни чёрту кочерга = X is lackluster (run-of-the-mill, colorless); neither this nor that; neither one thing nor the other.
Б-148 • ОДНОМУ БОГУ (ГОСПОДУ АЛЛАХУ) ИЗВЕСТНО (ВЕДОМО obs); ОДИН (ГОСПОдЬ-)БОГ ЗНАЕТ (ВЕДАЕТ obs) all coll [AdjP; usu. subj-compl with быть0, subj: a clause (1st var.); VPsubj (2nd var.); pres or past; fixed WO] (it is) unknown to anyone: God ((the) Lord, heaven) only knows; God alone knows (can say); only God knows.
[Астров:] Одному богу известно, в чём наше настоящее призвание (Чехов 3). [A.:] Only God knows what our real vocation is (3a).
Б-149 • ОТДАВАТЬ/ОТДАТЬ БОГУ ДУШУ euph, coll [VP; subj: human; usu. pfv] to die: X отдал богу душу = X surrendered (commended, gave up) his soul to God; X departed this life (this world, to God’s care, to the hereafter); X met (went to meet) his Maker; X gave up the ghost.
Бедняга Тендел объелся на юбилее своего собственного столетия и отдал богу душу (Искандер 4). Poor Tendel had overeaten at his own centennial celebration and surrendered his soul to God (4a). ♦ [Щербук:] Чуть не убили. Думал, что богу душу отдам. (Чехов 1). [context transl] [Shch.:] They nearly killed me. I honestly thought my hour had come (1a).
Б-150 • РАЗВОДИТЬ БОДЯГУ coll [VP; subj: human] to engage in idle talk: X разводит бодягу = X is chewing the fat (the rag) (with s.o.); X is shooting the breeze (the bull) (with s.o.).
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Б-151 • СМЕРТНЫМ БОЕМ бить кого coll [NPinstrum; Invar; adv (intensif) ; used with impfv verbs; fixed WO] (to beat s.o.) unmercifully: beat the (living) daylights (the stuffing, the tar) out of s.o.; beat s.o. to a pulp; beat s.o. black-and-blue; [in refer. to a one-time beating] give s.o. the hiding of his life.
.Никого из своих сыновей дедушка так не бил, как Иосифа. Бил смертным боем (Рыбаков 1). .Grandfather never beat his other sons as much as he did Yosif. He used to beat the living daylights out of him. (1a). ♦ В этот момент Петро не помнил, что собирался бить жену смертным боем. (Шолохов 3). At that moment Petro completely forgot that he had intended to give his wife the hiding of her life (3a).
Б-152 • БОЖЕ (БОГ) (ТЫ) МОЙ! coll [Interj; these forms only; fixed WO] used to express surprise, disbelief, delight, fear etc: my God (goodness, heavens)!; good God (Lord, heavens, gracious, grief)!; goodness gracious!; God Almighty!; oh, Lord!
Вот опять нам пришло на ум уотергейтское дело. Кто из нас, следивших за его перипетиями по передачам зарубежного радио, не приходил в изумление! Боже мой, из-за чего весь сыр-бор? Президент величайшей страны собирался кого-то подслушать. Всего-навсего (Войнович 3). Once again the Watergate affair comes to mind. Who among us, following its peripeteia on the foreign radio broadcasts, was not amazed? My heavens, what was all the commotion about? The President of the greatest country on earth wanted to eavesdrop on someone. That’s all there was to it (3a).
Б-153 • БОЖЕ УПАСИ coll [VPimper] 1. ~ (кого от чего). Also: УПАСИ (СОХРАНИ, ОБОРОНИ! obs) БОГ (ГОСПОДЬ); БОЖЕ СОХРАНИ! (ОБОРОНЕ! obs); ИЗБАВИ БОГ (БОЖЕ, ГОСПОДИ) [usu. indep. sent, sent adv (parenth), or predic (with subj: infin)] used to express caution, concern that sth. undesirable may happen, or a warning to s.o. not to do sth.: God (heaven) forbid; (may) God preserve (save) s.o. (from sth.); God (heaven) help s.o. (if.); [lim] (don’t do sth.) for God’s (heaven’s) sake.
«Если вы заботитесь о своём пищеварении, мой добрый совет — не говорите за обедом о большевизме и о медицине. И, Боже вас сохрани, не читайте до обеда советских газет» (Булгаков 11). “If you care about your digestion, my advice is—don’t talk about Bolshevism or medicine at the table. And, God forbid— never read Soviet newspapers before dinner” (11b).
2. Also: УПАСИ! (СОХРАНИ!, ОБОРОНИ! obs) БОГ (ГОСПОДЬ); БОЖЕ СОХРАНИ! (ОБОРОНИ! obs); ИЗБАВИ БОГ (БОЖЕ, ГОСПОДИ) [indep. sent or sent adv (parenth)] used to express an emphatic denial of sth. that is, in fact, possible or may be assumed: God (heaven) forbid!
«Я не хочу пугать тебя, но временами у меня ощущение, будто не сегодня-завтра меня арестуют». — «Сохрани Бог, Юрочка» (Пастернак 1). “I don’t want to worry you, but occasionally I have the feeling that they might arrest me any day.” “God forbid, Yurochka” (1a).
3. [usu. predic (with subj: any common noun), modif, or adv (intensif) ] (a person or thing is) extremely bad, awful etc, (some undesirable quality is) very strongly manifested, (some undesirable action is carried out) with extreme intensity: God (may the Lord) save us (you etc) from such a [NP] (from a [NP] like that); God (may the Lord) spare you (me etc) a [NP] like that; (sth.) like I hope never to see (hear etc) again; goodness (God), how [AdjP] one (sth.) is; God, how.!; a God-awful [NP]; God help us.
И все [ведьмы], сколько ни было их там, как хмельные, отплясывали какого-то чертовского трепака. Пыль подняли бо-
же упаси какую! (Гоголь 5). And the whole bunch of them [the witches] were dancing some sort of devil’s jig as though they were drunk. What a dust they raised, God help us! (5a).
Б-154 • НИ БОЖЕ МОЙ coll, often humor [sent; Invar; fixed WO] certainly not, not under any circumstances (used as an emphatic negation of sth. or a negative reply to a question): heavens (good God), no!; nothing of the kind (sort); nothing doing; not on your life!; no way; by no means.
Да ведь, может, [Гриша] не догадывается? Ни боже мой! Догадывается. (Трифонов 1). Was it possible that he [Grisha] hadn’t guessed? Good God, no! He knew. (1a). ♦ [Лидия:] Вы знаете в Казани мадам Чурило-Пленкову?.. Она, говорят, разошлась с мужем. [Васильков:] Ни боже мой! (Островский 4). [L.:] Do you know Madam[e] Churilo-Plenkov in Kazan?. They say she’s separated from her husband. [V.:] Not on your life! (4a).
Б-155 • ПОЧИТЬ В БОЗЕ obs [VP; subj: human; fixed WO] to die: X почил в бозе = X joined (met, went to meet) his Maker; X went the way of all flesh.
«Но не доехав до места назначения, папаша мой не выдержал обиды своего должностного понижения и почил, как говорится, в Бозе в номере парижской гостиницы.» (Максимов 2). “Before he reached his destination, however, my papa was unable to endure the affront of his political demotion, and he joined his Maker, as they say, in a Paris hotelroom.” (2a).