Worms for Snacks

Have you ever put your teeth on a shelf? Unless you have dentures, you will probably find this question strange. However, this is exactly what Russians do when they find themselves in straitened circumstances. The idiom полож≈ить з≈убы на п≈олку (literally, “to put one’s teeth on a shelf” or “to starve”) is one of our many idiomatic expressions referring to the essential need for nourishment.

Russians put great emphasis on eating enough and eating well because, as the proverb has it, гол≈одное бр≈юхо ко всем≈у гл≈ухо (“A hungry belly has no ears”). To remedy the situation, a hungry person might choose to have a snack or, in Russian, замор≈ить червячк≈а (“kill a tiny worm”). Linguists claim that the phrase was borrowed from the French tuer le ver (literally, “to kill a worm”), which meant having a drink on an empty stomach. It was believed that this measure could help to get rid of intestinal parasites (i.e. worms). 

Yet, “killing a worm” might not be enough, since Russians are used to at least three meals a day. Four at children’s summer camps: breakfast, lunch, п≈олдник (afternoon snack) and dinner. In Soviet times, before each meal at one of these summer camps, an instructor would encourage the kids to say a rhyme together: Когд≈а я ем, я глух и нем. (“When I’m eating, I’m deaf and mute”). The idea was that the kids were not supposed to talk while eating, to avoid choking (or maybe to give the adults a few moments of peace and quiet). 

It is often said about a person who has good taste and always chooses the best for him or herself that у нег≈о губ≈а не д≈ура (“his lip is no fool”). It is actually a shortened version of an old proverb, губ≈а не д≈ура, яз≈ык не лоп≈ата: зн≈ают, что г≈орько, что сл≈адко.  (“The lip is not a fool, the tongue is not a spade: they know what’s bitter, what’s sweet.”) Another example of a weird comparison is г≈олод не тётка.  (“Hunger is no aunt”). Again, it is the short version for a longer proverb: г≈олод не тётка, пирожк≈а не подс≈унет.  (“Hunger is no aunt, it won’t treat you to a pie.”) The idiom is widely used to emphasize how hunger may force a person to do something against one’s will. It can also be used to tease a dieting wife if you catch her munching on a piece of hidden bread.

This all underlines the fact that hunger-related idioms have gone far beyond their original intent. For example, when we say с≈ытый гол≈одного не разум≈еет (“The sated do not understand the hungry”), it doesn’t necessarily apply to food. It could be said by a poor, unemployed man about an oligarch, or by a divorcée about a married man. In short, it means he who doesn’t have something is not in the same shoes as the one who does.

The same applies to the expression meaning to do something because of hunger: сд≈елать чт≈о-то с голод≈ухи (the suffix “ух” is there to emphasize the feeling of starvation), from which we have the familiar С голод≈ухи и чёрствый хлеб сл≈адок (“When you are starving, even dry bread is tasty”). But the phrase can be used in non-gastronomic situations. Say you are a soldier who has gone without leave for months and you invite a not-so-pretty girl to dance. Your rude buddies might say you chose this girl с голод≈ухи. Or, if you chose to watch a lousy movie rather than sit around bored all night, you could be said to be making that choice с голод≈ухи. 

The actual state of голод≈уха can be caused either by famine or by choice. To go on a hunger strike is объяв≈ить голод≈овку. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, during the 1905 Russian revolution, hunger strikes were a common tactic. The eminent revolutionary Nikolai Bauman (who has a metro station and high-tech school in Moscow named after him) became a master of голод≈овка after he was thrown behind bars by the tsarist regime. In fact, there is a famous movie (Nikolai Bauman) that tells his story and is not a bad movie at all. And, compared to the alternatives on Russian TV these days – shows about bandits and oligarchs – even an old Soviet film about the 1905 revolution can taste like a piece of home-baked bread after a long голод≈овка.