Thread: "Зуб даю!"

Что значит "зуб дают"?
Спасибо!!

В столичной мэрии зуб дают, что школы готовы к зиме

`Я зуб даю' (literally: `I give my tooth') is reinforced the promise like `I swear' but without a religious context.
They swear that the schools are ready for winter.

thanks!

Фраза блатная. Обычными людьми используется как шутка.

They bet their tooth on it.

Yeah, this phrase is a part of traditional criminal culture, so it's used ironically here.

YouTube - Оксана Викторовна влюбилась, зуб даю

what would be the English equivalent to this?

In criminal circles a golden tooth could serve a decent payment. So, the phrase "[otherwise] I give [you my golden] tooth" means the speaker is so sure in something that he is ready to give up his golden tooth in case that something would not work out. That phrase is usually accompanied with a gesture in which the speaker opens his mouth demonstrating his golden tooth and puts his thumb behind the tooth promising he would take it out. So, the meaning of "зуб даю" is that something is a sure deal.

YouTube - Тимур Шаов, Разговор с критиком

"Гадом буду! Зуб даю!!

Originally Posted by alexsms

what would be the English equivalent to this?

I think a good equivalent would be the American phrase "You can bet your bottom dollar," literally your last earthly money. [First cited in the La Crosse Independent Republican, September 1856: "I'm goin' to vote for you [James Polk] - you can bet your bottom dollar on that!"] (Although personally I think the Russian version is way cooler.) =)

I always thought it mean something like: "If you catch me lying, you can knock out my tooth."

This is in the same category as "to give an arm and a leg" for something or, more commonly, "cost an arm and a leg". All languages have got something like it. Anyway thanks for that! I have stored it in my 'speaking for colouful Russian vocab list'

Originally Posted by Exciter

`Я зуб даю' (literally: `I give my tooth') is reinforced the promise like `I swear' but without a religious context.
They swear that the schools are ready for winter.

Better to say "reinforces the promise" which is active, with 'promise' being the object (accusative) whereas "is reinforced..." is passive and requires something afterwards like '...by the promise' in which 'promise' becomes the subject (nominative). This a handy way of reversing the role of the theme word 'promise'. Your English is not terrible at all - it's good! You are heading for perfection, not comprehension!

Thanks a lot ladoga.