Thread: сто двадцать на семьдесят

It is from my Russian reading.

А: У меня (кровяное) давление нормальное?
Б (доктор): Да, Сто двадцать на семьдесят. Я вам сейчас выпишу решепт...


I don't understand what is meant by Сто двадцать на семьдесят, is it a kind of fraction or what?

It mean systolic BP is 120 mm Hg and diastolic BP is 70 mm Hg
About BP - Blood pressure - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by hddscan

It mean systolic BP is 120 mm Hg and diastolic BP is 70 mm Hg
About BP - Blood pressure - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I noticed on the Wikipedia article,
"An example of normal measured values for a resting, healthy adult human is 120 mm Hg systolic and 80 mm Hg diastolic (written as 120/80 mm Hg, and spoken as "one-twenty over eighty").

Can I say that Russian speaks of blood pressure, as in my example - 120/70 mm Hg as "one hundred and twenty to seventy"?
I am trying to imagine to myself how to translate preposition in "Сто двадцать на семьдесят (nominative + на + accusative) here.

Originally Posted by wonlon

I am trying to imagine to myself how to translate preposition in "Сто двадцать на семьдесят (nominative + на + accusative) here.

I'm not sure but I'd guess that if BP is written as 120/70, then somebody might guess that / sign also means division, so when it's written as 120/70 somebody might see it and say, hey it looks like 120 divided by 70 or in Russian 120 делённое на 70 or simply 120 на 70.
It's my guess it could be very much untrue.

I believe that in English the pattern to use is "x by y". How would you say about size of your bed, for example?
In Russian it's "на". Add more "на"s if there are more than two figures:
2,5x3,0x1,0 м = два с половиной на три на метр

"на" is also used with probabilities:
Скачать музыка 50х50 - ТО
50:50 = пятьдесят на пятьдесят

But:
1:3 = один к трём

Even more interesting:
1:1000000
A) один на миллион
B) один к миллиону

both are possible if you mean relation, and only A possible if you mean dimensions.

Originally Posted by hddscan

I'm not sure but I'd guess that if BP is written as 120/70, then somebody might guess that / sign also means division, so when it's written as 120/70 somebody might see it and say, hey it looks like 120 divided by 70 or in Russian 120 делённое на 70 or simply 120 на 70.
It's my guess it could be very much untrue.

"Blood pressure is usually expressed in terms of the systolic (maximum) pressure over diastolic (minimum) pressure and is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg)."(Wikipedia)

It is not division, but two things put together with a stroke "/". In English, the fraction 3/4 can be said "three over four", etc. So blood pressure looks like a fraction, it is spoken "120 over 70".

I guess Russians speaks of numbers with stroke "/" (though not necessarily fractions) using на + acc.?

Originally Posted by wonlon

I guess Russians speaks of numbers with stroke "/" (though not necessarily fractions) using на + acc.?

Correct