# Forum Learning Russian Language Translate This! How do you Say... in Russian?  How do you say, "everything to nothing" in russian?

## everythingtonothing

I am going to get a tattoo that reads "everything to nothing" in russian.  Can someone please help with translation?  I asked a friend that was born in the ukraine and she said the closest thing was "everything for nothing". 
Thanks.

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## it-ogo

"everything" in Russian is "всё".  
If you elaborate what exactly do you mean as "everything to nothing" then we can try to find something adequate in Russian.

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## BappaBa

Всё напрасно?

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## everythingtonothing

it means, you work hard to get everything but in the end you have nothing.  kind of a morbid outlook on life.  you work, and stress all through light to just die in the end.   
hope that helps.

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## Ramil

Sayings like that are not translated directly. A close equivalent is used instead. But there's no equivalents to this one I know of. Perhaps В гробу карманов нет - there's no pockets in a coffin will fit.

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## everythingtonothing

well here, this is what my friend from the ukraine was able to come up with.

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## Ramil

everything for (the sake of) nothing 
it could be also 
всё напрасно

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## everythingtonothing

so is the one my friend wrote pretty close?

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## Alex_PK

All in vain, I suppose...

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## alexsms

> well here, this is what my friend from the ukraine was able to come up with.

 sounds cool, and grammatically correct, it sounds philosophical, kind of life verdict, from the point of view of grammar it's OK, and to me as a speaker of Russian it's laconic and cool. Though, pessimistic)) but that's i guess what you really mean to say by 'everything to nothing'.

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## everythingtonothing

yeah, kind of been a motto of mine lately.  it seems we work so hard all through life to attain, riches to only die in the end and have nothing.  it is very pessimistic but oh well lol  thank you all for helping me figure this out.

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## Inf

> it means, you work hard to get everything but in the end you have nothing.

 Then, it could be translated as "всё впустую" ("*** без толку/напрасно/зря/тщетно).
//note, all those variants have different feelings for listener/reader, but absolutely same meaning 
"всё впустую" is like all your acts gone to empty space (something alike, don't know how to say correctly)
"*** без толку" - ... had no sence
"** напрасно/зря" - ...  
__
wait, translator said "зря = for nothing"  ::

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## Throbert McGee

Question: Could *всё на х*й* or *всё на фиг* be used with the same meaning as *всё зря*?    
(It seems to me that if one is going to get a tattoo like a sailor, one should cuss like a sailor!) 
P.S. As long as I'm on the subject, what is the exact difference between *моряк* and *матрос*? Can they both be used when talking about "the Navy" in military contexts?

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## alexsms

Hi, Throbert!  *всё на х*й* and *всё на фиг* don't have exact meaning and can be used mostly as exclamations in case of anger, irritation.
besides, всё на х*й is very rude as it contains the rudest Russian word  *всё зря* - is neutral and can be substituted by *всё к черту, всё пошло к чёрту (lit., all went to devil)*, meaning 'it was in vain'  *моряк* is a job, profession (general word for any sailor) *матрос* is technically a military rank if it's a military vessel, 
but if on a civil vessel this means a specialist responsible for some non-navigation duties on the vessel (cleaning, painting, general works, taking care of the ship). 
There is also a military rank (on military vessels) - *старший матрос* (senior sailor, literally). 
You can use both words for "the Navy". *Моряки* would probably be used by most as it's means collectively just all sailors in the Navy on all types of ships regardless of their ranks and duties.

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## it-ogo

> Question: Could *всё на х*й* or *всё на фиг* be used with the same meaning as *всё зря*?

 No, the first two phrases most probably should be translated as "To hell everything!" (depending on context)   

> P.S. As long as I'm on the subject, what is the exact difference between *моряк* and *матрос*? Can they both be used when talking about "the Navy" in military contexts?

 Yes. Basically, моряк is everyone who sails while матрос is a subordinate employee (or serviceman) on a ship (both civil and military) who most probably wears a uniform. Captain of the ship is not матрос but моряк as well as field officers.

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## Throbert McGee

Thanks for the explanation of *моряк* and *матрос*. I suppose that *моряк* would best be translated as "sailor" (which is a more general term) while *матрос* is best translated as "seaman" -- which is sometimes synonymous with "sailor," but can also be a specific term of rank in the navies and civil fleets of the US, UK, and other English-speaking countries. (In the US Navy, for example, a "Seaman" is approximately equivalent to a "Private" in the Army or Marine Corps.)

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## alexsms

> (In the US Navy, for example, a "Seaman" is approximately equivalent to a "Private" in the Army or Marine Corps.)

 that makes sense. the same in the Russian Army (_рядовой_ and _матрос_)

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## lexxalex

На эту тему есть русская пословица: _Переливать из пустого в порожнее_. (Заниматься бессмысленным занятием)

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## everythingtonothing

Hey guys!  I had another question regarding this.  In the image below there are the accents above the first "E" and I was wondering if that was correct or should it be a "e" with the accents?  ТАТТОО.jpg

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## Throbert McGee

> Hey guys!  I had another question regarding this.  In the image below there are the accents above the first "E" and I was wondering if that was correct or should it be a "e" with the accents?

 It should be *ВСЁ РАДИ НИЧЕГО* (if you want all caps) or *Всё Ради Ничего* (each word capped) or *Всё ради ничего* (only first word capped) or *всё ради ничего* (all lower case) -- but in any event, the first "e" has two dots over it. If you write *все* without dots over the "е", the pronounciation of the word changes a bit, and it means "everybody/everyone" not "everything."   
But by the way, I'd suggest a completely different "translation" that may or may not be appropriate for what you want:   *Суета сует, сказал Екклесиаст, суета сует -- всё суета!* 
This is the standard Russian translation of Ecclesiastes 1:2, which in modern English can be rendered:    _"The most time-wasting of wastes-of-time," said the holy teacher, "the most pointless of all pointlessness! Everything is meaningless and trivial!"_ 
However, most English speakers are more familiar with the old-fashioned phrasing from the "King James Version" (KJV), which incidentally was completed in 1611 and thus just celebrated its 400th birthday:  _ "Vanity of vanities," saith the Preacher, "vanity of vanities; all is vanity."_  
P.S. Since this is for a tattoo, you can just shorten it to:  *Суета сует, всё суета!*  
Which is rather musical in Russian, and pronounced:   
soo-yet-TAH 
soo-YET
f's-YOH
soo-yet-TAH

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## Marcus

> soo-yt-TAH 
> soo-YET
> f's'OH
> soo-y-TAH

 s' - soft s.

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