Thread: anecdote

I subscribe to a Russian children's magazine, "Микки Маус" (Mickey Mouse) because it is about the reading level I am comfortable with and it is a useful learning tool for me.

I was surprised to read the following anecdote in a recent issue:

Маленький муравей бегал кругами вокруг коробки с печеньем. Его друг, другой муравей, наблюдавший эту картину, спросил:
- Что означает эта спешка?
- Ну, тут есть надпись: «Рви вдоль пунктирной линии».

(Not the exact version that appeared in that journal, a variant I copied off the internet so I didn't have to type the whole thing).

Anyway, I recognized that as a joke I read as a kid, probably more than once as I remember it well. As a little background, when I was growing up (MANY years ago) it was pretty common on a cereal box to see the words "tear along the dotted line". This joke probably wouldn't make sense to kids today as I haven't seen that on a box for a long time, with the modern "easy-open" packages. The Russian version is pretty much a direct translation from what I remember reading as a kid.

What surprised me about this was not the fact that the old joke was still around - but the fact that the punchline of the joke relies on the double meaning in English of the word "tear". The ant was running, i.e. tearing, along the dotted line.

I was curious as to whether the Russian "рвать" also has that double meaning? Neither of my dictionaries indicates that. But if not - does this joke make any sense at all in Russian? I did find several copies on the web.

Ken

Originally Posted by gr8white

I was curious as to whether the Russian "рвать" also has that double meaning? Neither of my dictionaries indicates that. But if not - does this joke make any sense at all in Russian? I did find several copies on the web.

Да, в русском языке "рвать" тоже имеет двойное значение. Известны фразы "рвать когти" и "подрываться" в значении "удирать изо всех сил". Раньше это был тюремный сленг.

Originally Posted by BappaBa

Да, в русском языке "рвать" тоже имеет двойное значение. Известны фразы "рвать когти" и "подрываться" в значении "удирать изо всех сил". Раньше это был тюремный сленг.

А-а-а! Спасибо большое!

I am as surprised about the verb to tear having this other meaning as you were about the verb рвать.
Рвать когти - is literally to tear claws out which means to scoot, to bolt fast so your claws dig deeply in the earth with the risk of being torn out .

Originally Posted by Ramil

I am as surprised about the verb to tear having this other meaning as you were about the verb рвать.

"Tear" meaning "to run" is also slang and isn't in common usage these days. I've heard it mainly when referring to someone with exceptional speed, e.g. "Look at him tear!"

Ken

I understood the joke only after reading the explanation. And I'm not a kid!

Originally Posted by Rtyom

I understood the joke only after reading the explanation. And I'm not a kid!

Yeah, I didn't understand it either. Sure I know the expresion "рвать когти". But "рвать" without "когти" is hardly used with the meaning "to run". There's another verb for that (рвануть, рванул). So the joke is not very clear.

And when one says he "рвал" or "рвет" I have something different on my mind: "Штирлица рвало на Родину" (с).

Absolutely! :")

The perfective (?) form is used quite often though

Они рванули в кино/другой город/на колокольню

Actually, my immediate reading of "рви" was "run". I'm not sure if I'd respond to the joke in English, it took me a few ticks to remember the expression "tear down the road".

Surprisingly, I know the English 'tear' in that sense, and the first thing I became aware of is the English variant.

Рвусь из сил, из всех сухожилий,
Но сегодня опять, как вчера,
Обложили меня, обложили,
Гонят весело на номера
(с) Высoцкий