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Thread: расшибись в лепешку!?

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    расшибись в лепешку!?

    Can someone explain how the idiom "расшибись в лепешку"; which literally means: "you hurt yourself into a cookie" wind up meaning "you exert yourself to the fullest"
    DO IT YOURSELF!

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    Re: расшибись в лепешку!?

    Quote Originally Posted by Siriusly
    Can someone explain how the idiom "расшибись в лепешку"; which literally means: "you hurt yourself into a cookie" wind up meaning "you exert yourself to the fullest"
    Да и немного похоже на "stretch yourself thin".
    "...Важно, чтобы форум оставался местом, объединяющим людей, для которых интересны русский язык и культура. ..." - MasterАdmin (из переписки)



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    Imagine that you need to break through a brick wall and all you have is your body. What would happen to you if you "exerted yourself to the fullest"?

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    Okay, but give me more. How can human pain or exertion relate to pastry?
    I worked so hard that I fell on the floor and laid there "as flat as a pancake"! or
    Я работал так много что в конце концов я выглядел похож блин!
    DO IT YOURSELF!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Siriusly
    Я работал так много, что в конце концов (я) стал похож на блин!
    or "в конце концов выглядел как блин".
    In Russian, all nationalities and their corresponding languages start with a lower-case letter.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Siriusly
    Okay, but give me more. How can human pain or exertion relate to pastry?
    I worked so hard that I fell on the floor and laid there "as flat as a pancake"! or
    Я работал так много, что в конце концов я выглядел похожим на блин!
    We say in Russian a little bit different: "Я работал так много, что в конце концов был похож на выжатый лимон"

    Btw, my Lingvo says that "расшибиться в лепешку" means "to lay oneself out"
    Could you please occasionally correct my stupid errors!
    Korrigiert bitte ab und zu meine dummen Fehler!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Siriusly
    How can human pain or exertion relate to pastry?
    That definition - "you hurt yourself into a cookie" - is not literal. Literal - "you crash/flatten yourself into a cookie". So, it's not about pain, it's about shape.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Siriusly
    Okay, but give me more. How can human pain or exertion relate to pastry?
    I worked so hard that I fell on the floor and laid there "as flat as a pancake"! or
    Я работал так много что в конце концов я выглядел похож блин!
    Advise: take this idiom as it is. Don't think too hard about how human pain can relate to pastry. There are hundreds of idioms both in English and Russian that seem to make no sense whatsoever when translated literally.
    "A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read"
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    Re: расшибись в лепешку!?

    Quote Originally Posted by Siriusly
    "you hurt yourself into a cookie"
    Come to think of it, the translation of "лепёшка" in this definition is not literal either. The thing is, "лепёшка" does not necessarily refer to food. Again, it is shape that matters.
    One can "расшибиться в лепёшку" not metaphorically but literally - jumping out of the window if the building is high enough.
    There is "коровья лепёшка" too.

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    по-моему немного old-fashioned эта лепешка, господа, вам не кажется?
    что-то я не замечаю, чтобы так говорили. как думаете?
    "Легче, чем пух, камень плиты.
    Брось на нее цветы."

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    Re: расшибись в лепешку!?

    Quote Originally Posted by E-learner
    There is "коровья лепёшка" too.
    Americans call them "cow chips". And in some places they have "cow chip throwing" contests. Do they do this in Russia?
    DO IT YOURSELF!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Paxan
    по-моему немного old-fashioned эта лепешка, господа, вам не кажется?
    Какая именно? Если та, которая из выражения "расшибиться в лепешку", то так говорят. Я слышу.
    In Russian, all nationalities and their corresponding languages start with a lower-case letter.

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    Ближе всего, пожалуй, вот так: do it, or die trying.
    Семь бед, один Reset

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    Re: расшибись в лепешку!?

    Quote Originally Posted by Siriusly
    Quote Originally Posted by E-learner
    There is "коровья лепёшка" too.
    Americans call them "cow chips". And in some places they have "cow chip throwing" contests. Do they do this in Russia?
    The British call it a cow pat

    по-моему немного old-fashioned эта лепешка, господа, вам не кажется?
    что-то я не замечаю, чтобы так говорили. как думаете?
    I don't think so. I reckon Оля is right that the idiom is still very much in use. I hear a lot of people say this idiom and also I myself use it pretty often.
    "A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read"
    Mark Twain
    American author/essayist (1835-1910)
    WHSmith

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    Re: расшибись в лепешку!?

    Quote Originally Posted by Siriusly
    And in some places they have "cow chip throwing" contests. Do they do this in Russia?
    Never participated in or even heard of it. But I live neither in Russia (not so far away though) nor in the country.

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