A Little Filler, You Know, Can Go a Long Way

Everybody frowns upon the nonsense phrase and the filler. But only the highest of the high-brow seem to avoid either in everyday language. Russian, has a rich arsenal of filler words. And for the foreigner searching desperately for the right word or phrase, these fillers can provide relief, humor, and even escape.

Let’s start with the direct Russian equivalent for the ubiquitous English “you know.” Russians say this, but rarely and in a different way: “Знаете ли?” For example, “А я, знаете ли, предпочитаю...” (“You know, I prefer...”).

This is perfect Russian, but very few native speakers would use it today – you will most likely hear it in a Chekhov play or in TV interviews with film and theater critics.

A synonym for this phrase is видите ли (you see), which, stylistically, sounds the same. The most common and stylistically neutral phrase is так сказать (so to say). This one can be heard on TV, radio, and on the street. Another set phrase is будем говорить (“let me put it this way” or “shall I say”).

If you want to sound like President Yeltsin in his impromptu (i.e. unwritten) speeches, use понимаешь (you understand). Otherwise, this turn of phrase seems to be owned by the older generation of Soviet-style apparatchiks. It’s an ideal device for say, the head of a former collective farm reprimanding his fellow kolkhozniki for low milk production.

Yeltsin and other highly-placed personages use понимаешь when they are getting tough with somebody. Mind you, none of them studied their Russian in Tsarskoye Selo (an imperial lyceum where many a Russian poet, including Pushkin, were educated).

The most common filler used by all generations in Russia is значит (so). For example: “Я ему, значит, говорю..” (“So, I told him...”).

The most fashionable filler, mainly used by the younger generation, is the now-famous короче (in short). However, it doesn’t make the story any shorter. For example: “Короче, пришли мы туда, и я ему, короче, говорю...” This story will, for sure, contain several dozen koroches (“In short, we came there, and I said, in short, to him...”)

Use короче occasionally, but don’t abuse it. While it is very colloquial, it’s not the ideal way of rendering your thoughts in Russian.

Apart from fillers, Russian is “full of” senseless phrases, mostly inherited from the Soviet era. Some are worth knowing about in order to avoid them.

Until the winds of change began to blow, Russians would say “we fight for...” in any situation, e.g. “we fight for quality,” “we fight for ecology,” “we fight for the harvest” (there was even a set phrase, битва за урожай (the battle for the harvest). Ilf and Petrov, authors of the famous satirical novel The Twelve Chairs, started the satire rolling: “Let’s not fight for cleanliness,” they wrote, “let’s just mop the floor.”

Mikhail Gorbachev was famous for using the phrase процесс пошёл (the process is under way). In fact he used it so often that every Russian now knows it by heart.

“Mikhail Sergeyevitch,” the correspondent asks, “how would you assess the early results of perestroika in economic terms?”

“Процесс пошёл,” the General Secretary would reply.

Russians now love to exploit the irony of using this deliberately vague phrase in concrete situations. For example:

“How is it going with Natasha?” one Russian asks a friend who is courting Natasha.

“Процесс пошёл,” comes the reply.

Another archetype of Soviet-style phraseology is “to solve the question of...” Or “to raise the question of...”

“Where do we stand with our customs clearance?” a business colleague queries.

“Этот вопрос решается.” (This question is being solved).

But the phrase also has a problematic quality, in that it carries a dual meaning. “We need to solve the question of the bookkeeper” (“Надо решить вопрос с бухгалтером”) in normal language could mean either “we need to hire a bookkeeper,” or “we should fire the bookkeeper,” depending on the context. (Thus, while the problem of customs clearance might be being solved, it is not clear from the context given by whom or to what effect.)

Короче, the sooner you, так сказать, are able to решить вопрос of fillers and senseless phrases, the easier your spoken Russian is going to be. The important thing, знаете ли, is that the процесс пошёл.