Just Between Us

“All men are pigs,” is an adage shared with me by quite a few америка́нки (American women). Russian women put it a bit differently: “Все мужики́ – сво́лочи.” But the meaning is pretty much the same.

Yet I would advise the представи́тельницы прекра́сной полови́ны челове́чества (representatives of humanity’s finer half) against combing all men with one comb (всех мужчи́н – под одну́ гребёнку). Yes, we men do like to privately banter about же́нские пре́лести (women’s delights). You might even find two happily married мужики́ sitting on a bench casting their lupine gazes at passing “chicks” (тёлки), excusing themselves with the cliché “не едим – так погляди́м” (“if we can’t eat it, at least we can watch it”).

Understandably irate Russian women describe such voyeurism as мужики́ слю́ни пуска́ют (the men are salivating). And if a man’s “surveillance” is too obvious, a woman may abruptly stop and ask, “Чего́ пя́лишься?” or “Чего́ вы́лупился?” (a vulgar “Why are you staring at me?”)