Marital Squabbles

Any couple has the occasional marital squabble (семейная ссора). Russian spouses are no exception.

For happy couples who live as one soul (живут душа в душу), rare quarrels are a way to spice up their otherwise cloudless, conjugal life. As the proverb has it, милые бранятся только тешатся (lovers quarrel just for fun). For couples who, as they say in the U.S., “routinely communicate through a sharp word and a slammed door,” squabbles are a daily routine (ссоры стали обычным делом). Americans may find what follows just a fun read, but for those who have tied the knot (связали себя семейными узами с) with a Russian spouse, this column should be of particular interest.

Anything can spark a family quarrel. Here are a couple of classic situations resulting in wife-to-husband dialogues which every Russian has heard a thousand times – either live or in a movie or play.