Thread: Idiom o' the Day #8

I am tired to the bone ~ я устал как собака.



Bye the way, the short form adjective in this idiom is interchangeable. Ex: Я голоден как собака! - I am hungry as a dog!

Enjoy!

Уставать - v. - to become tired.

Kak - how, as, as(like), what, but, since.

Собака - n. Fem. - dog, hound.

"Now, here is a good example of the use of short form adjectives. Устал is a short form adjective formed from усталый. "

Sorry, but I don't think this is correct. In the example above the word устал is verb уставать (to get tired) in past tense sing.

however in - Я голоден как собака! - I am hungry as a dog! "голоден" is adj. голодный in short form.

Обычно "голоден как волк".
А ещё есть "Я зол как собака" - I am angry like a dog.

Thank you for the correction Alware.

So really this translates to "I was hungry like a dog." BUT WHY, OH WHY must the dictionary LIE to me like that! ACH!

Is there a short form of усталый, and if so, why is its usage here incorrect? This is a predicate case, no? Wouldn't the short form of Усталый be identical to the past tense of Уставать? Not debating, just confused. Thank you, thank you!

Thanks for the additional comments JJ. Most informative. You will be seeing these phrases more often on the MR board now.

Originally Posted by carperdiem

So really this translates to "I was hungry like a dog." BUT WHY, OH WHY must the dictionary LIE to me like that! ACH!

Nope, dictionary didn't lie to you. Голоден is short form of adj. Голодный (look my previuos post). So Я голоден как собака - I am hungry like a dog.

Originally Posted by carperdiem

Is there a short form of усталый?

No

Originally Posted by carperdiem

This is a predicate case, no?

No

Thanks again for the corrections!

"You are wrong, but I like the way you think!" (it's from a joke).

The fact is that the modern Past verbs come from Old Russian short past participles (or verbial adjectives).
Я устал <= Я [есмь] устал[ый].

But today they are not adjectives, they are the form of verbs. However some verbal adjectives ending on -лый/-лая/-лое do exist nowadays and they (theoretically) may be shortened of course. Талая вода, спелый фрукт, горелый хлеб. And in this form they may be confused with verbs in the past form, but since the short form of these adjectives are very rare (or even never used at all), you may not worry.

For the English a more natural translation: I'm tired as a dog or I'm dog tired. For hunger it's: I could eat a horse.

Originally Posted by Mandy

For the English a more natural translation: I'm tired as a dog or I'm dog tired. For hunger it's: I could eat a horse.

I think you are a bit late with your answer . Look at the date of the original posting.

Better late than never!
улучшайте поздно чем никогда?

Originally Posted by Dave T

лучше поздно, чем никогда

Спасибо, Оля.

Я устал ,,окончен бой беру портвейн иду домой...

Privet Vsem!

YA VERNULSYA! CARPERDIEM! DA, YA OSTALSYA V ZHIVIX!

Ya tak rad, chto vi eshe ispulzuete svoi "posti". Nadeus', chto oni vam polezni. Teper' trudno sebya predstavit', chto ya bil tak molod, kogda pisal predidushie slova... zhal' dazhe.

Ya chitau po-russki chasto, a uzh ne tak mnogo. Ya podvergalsya takim uzhasam vo vremya voini, chto uzhe ne schitau uchenia russkogo yasika ochen' vazhnim. Vse ravno, lublu velikix russkix pisatelei i russkie filmi, a bol'she vsego - Russkogo naroda! Samij interesnij v mire! Ya voeval ryadom s Ukraintsami v Afghanistane i Irake, i schitau ix svoimi bratyami. Esli tol'ko nashi politiki ne bili takimi predstupnikami, mi bi zhili mirno i druzhno vmeste na svete.

Za bratvu vsex stran!

Proschate!

Carperdiem

Welcome home!
It's wonderful that you are back now!
I wish you the best! Happy Holidays to you and your family!
It's an honor to have you here with us!

Well, where did he go?

Он же сказал "прощайте". Я думала, что по ошибке, но он, наверное, это и имел в виду, к сожалению.