Hi! It's your Russian-speaking friend here.
Today we're going to watch a video by the blogger Lutchak.
First I'll put my MacBook on charge, because
there's only 6% left.
I'll plug in the cable now.
Did you hear that?
Now my laptop is charging.
This blogger's videos are very interesting,
but they're hard to understand not only for foreigners,
but even for some native speakers
who aren't familiar with modern slang.
One of this blogger's most popular videos
is about him teaching a cleaning lady
how to record "circles" in Telegram.
Telegram is the most popular messenger
in Russian-speaking countries —
in most Russian-speaking countries, anyway.
And in this messenger,
for sending video messages there's a feature for recording
so-called "circles."
Everyone calls them that — it's an unofficial name.
Let's take a look.
This isn't my favorite video,
but it's a popular one.
It's a prank on a cleaning lady.
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of pranks,
but videos of this format usually
rack up a lot of views.
Let's watch it together first,
and then I'll explain what was said in this video.
- Look, here, you've just got a video...
And you put it like this, and you get...
- Wow, awesome! - Yeah...
My daughter sent me a "circle." I can't even.
I want to send one too.
- You don't know how to send circles? - Easy, right?
- It's unfamiliar at first, but then... - Well, I'm a fast learner.
- It's just this cup-shaped thing. And you hold it up to the camera like this.
And then you turn on the camera and record... and you get a circle.
You just need to hold the shape... evenly.
- Uh-huh... - Hold the camera like this.
- It's still not lining up. There, there, it's lining up... - You have to get used to it, it's not instant... it's not easy.
Are you getting it? - Yeah, well, like this...
- What did you do to this poor woman? - Max, that's really harsh. Keep going.
- Clearly she needs more practice. - Well, it's her first try... like this.
- Well, like this, very... - Well, maybe even...
- Gulnara Muratovna, so, did you manage to send the circle? Show us how you sent it.
- Uh-huh.
- Should we come clean? - Us?
- Didn't anything about this whole setup bother you? - Hm... I did think something felt... kind of off.
A little heart.
Video messages cropped into a circle
(also called "circles")
are used in popular messengers. For example, in Telegram or WhatsApp.
You could describe this situation
as a prank on a cleaning lady.
Let's read the text first.
"Taught the cleaning lady to record circles in TG"
TG is Telegram, so [what's meant here is] circles in Telegram.
Look, here, you've just got a video...
Look, here
you've just got a video.
So he's showing that there are different video-recording features.
A regular one (video) and, presumably, a circle.
She says "uh-huh," or rather [a sound]
Sometimes we write [that sound] as "uh-huh," because saying "uh-huh" out loud feels a bit odd.
We say [it] with our mouth closed.
Next, the main guy holds up a bottomless cup
and says: "And you put it like this, and you've got a circle"
The cleaning lady is delighted, she says:
"Wow, awesome!"
My daughter sent me a circle
It all started with a circle from her daughter.
In other words, her daughter sent her a video in the shape of a circle.
She says: "But I can't, I want to send one too."
However, notice — if I'm not mistaken — this actually looks more like the WhatsApp interface than Telegram's.
So at the start it said "record circles in TG," meaning in Telegram, but here it's WhatsApp. A small inconsistency.
You don't know how to send circles?
He's asking, and here it's written —
"as if I'd refuse to help," hinting that
he's about to help her now.
"Help," you could say, in air quotes,
because with friends like that, who needs enemies.
She asks: "Easy?"
He says: "It's unfamiliar at first, but then..."
She says: "Well, I'm a fast learner."
Notice it's written here as "vashche,"
but the correct spelling is "voobshche."
Here it says,
"A tutorial for everyone
who doesn't get how."
"Tutorial" is
the English word "tutorial,"
which has entered the Russian language.
And "sharit'" is colloquial Russian —
this phrase, this verb,
means to know how to do something, to know something.
So "a tutorial for everyone who doesn't 'get' how"
in more neutral Russian
could be phrased as
"a lesson for everyone who doesn't know how..."
And he shows her:
"I've just got this cup-shaped thing here"
"And you hold it up to the camera like this"
notice that the word "vot" ("here, like this")
comes up very often.
In Russian we sometimes use it
just as often as "like" is used
in American English.
And then
you turn on the camera and record.
And you get a circle.
The women in the office see what's happening, but stay quiet.
The main thing is not to shake your hand.
You just need to hold the shape steady.
Again — "uh-huh," meaning [that sound].
Hold the camera like this.
It's still not lining up.
It's almost there, it's lining up.
The correct spelling is
"vot-vot" with a hyphen,
but since these are just subtitles from the internet,
most likely auto-generated,
they often contain mistakes.
"Vot-vot" means "any moment now," "very soon."
In English that would be "soon,"
in German "bald,"
in Japanese そろそろ.
You have to get used to it, it's not instant, it's not easy.
The practice started right from the first second.
"Poshla" in this context means "started."
The boss makes a gesture
that shows
he thinks Maxim (the main guy
who decided to prank the cleaning lady)
is a little "off" — meaning crazy,
nuts, has lost his mind.
He twirled his finger at his temple.
That's a gesture we use
to show that someone's "lost it."
Maxim asks: "Are you getting it?"
to which Gulnara Muratovna replies: "Well, yeah."
Then she says something not in Russian.
The girl asks: "What did you do to this poor woman?"
"Chyo" is the colloquial form of "chto" ("what")
Here it's written as "chyo"
without the "yo" — with an "e" instead,
because a lot of people just can't be bothered to write the letter "yo."
I always try to write the letter "yo," especially in this video blog,
but a lot of people skip it and write "e" instead.
In the next sentence, though, there's already a "yo." Suddenly.
"Max, that's really harsh."
"Max" is the short form of the name "Maxim."
I think you know that
regardless of what language you speak.
"That's really harsh, keep going."
The beginning and end of that sentence contradict each other.
Next the text changes to "working on mistakes."
That's something we often write in school, for example,
if there was a test,
some essay or piece of writing.
Students get their written work back
and are asked to "work on the mistakes."
In other words, rewrite everything, but
with the mistakes corrected
that were found —
identified by the teacher.
"Clearly she needs more practice."
"Well, it's her first try... like this."
"Well, like this, very..."
"Well, like this,
very...", and then laughter.
"Look at this." But she said it more like "luh' at this."
Often, instead of "posmotri" ("look") in
casual speech
we tend to say "pasatri."
As in many languages, we like to shorten things.
For example, I'm learning Japanese, and in
Japanese "ありがとうございます"
often gets shortened to
"azas"; it's the same thing here.
Instead of "posmotri" we
say "pastri"... "pasatri."
"Gulnara Muratovna, so, did you manage to send it?"
Let's check the result.
"Show us how you..."
"Did you manage to send the circle?"
[I missed that there's one more word there.]
"Show us how you sent it." "Here..."
She says something not in Russian again. Don't worry if you didn't understand it.
By this point it was no longer possible to keep tormenting Gulnara Muratovna.
They started to feel sorry for her.
"Should we come clean? Let's tell her the truth."
And the girls are shocked,
they say: "Us?"
because, in their
view, they had nothing to do with it —
they were just sitting there watching.
"Didn't anything about this setup bother you?"
Max asks,
"Didn't anything
about this whole setup bother you?"
He pronounces "nichego" ("nothing") more like "nichyo."
We often say it that way too.
She made a "tsk" sound.
In Russian, that sound can be
written with two letters,
"tts" together [or "tsyk"],
or with the verb "tsyknut'" (to tsk).
"That's what I thought."
"I thought something felt heavy."
"Something felt kind of off."
It's written as "chto-to" ("something"), but
she pronounced it "chyo-to,"
because we often pronounce "chto" as "chyo."
Personally, I like to pronounce "chto" in full,
but a lot of people shorten it.
Here it also says "we really love our cleanliness fairy." A little heart.
What did you think of this video?
What do you think about pranks like this?
Isn't this a bit too cruel? Let me know in the comments.