bulling and teasing in Russian

[Emily Saunders]

Hello Professor Belyanin,

While sharing bits of your interesting article with my husband this  
evening he came up with several versions of the "back at you" defenses  
in English that he remembers from childhood - so I thought I'd share:

I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to  
you.
I know you are, but what am I.
Takes one to know one.
He who smelt it probably dealt it (reference to a fart).

And discussing this with him reminded me of a few "draznilki" from  
deepest childhood -- I was little in the '70's and so I'd be curious if  
elementary school kids are still using these:

*Anna and Robert* sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby  
carriage.
(This is generally not used as a compliment but rather to pair someone  
with another who is unpopular.)

Brown, brown went to town, wearing his britches upside down. (Refers to  
the color clothing worn or color of eyes.)

I see London, I see France, I see *insert name here*'s underpants.

Liar, liar, pants on fire, nose as long as a telephone wire.

I'm sure there are some that involve specific names, but I can't recall  
them at the moment.  I do remember though that some Russian friends of  
mine who were swayed by draznilki when deciding on a name for their  
baby girl.  They considered briefly Elizaveta (which would have worked,  
in my opinion, quite nicely with her patronymic - Kirillovna), but  
decided against it in the end fearing the playground epithet of  
Liza-podliza.

Regards,

Emily Saunders

On Jul 26, 2007, at 5:16 PM, Hunter, Robert (Psychology) wrote:

> Prof. Belyanin,
>      I enjoyed your interview.  Since teasing and bullying is such a  
> hot buttom issue in U. S. schools, I was particularly interested in  
> your observation that "fol'klornye satiricheskie stikhi" are a  
> possible replacement for cruel or aggressive language.  Perhaps if the  
> books children were read and read themselves were "classics" and not  
> edited to be so "nice", children's linguistic repertoires might be  
> enriched and behavior less confrontational.  What do you think?
>
> Robert Hunter
> rhunter at monroecc.edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list  
> on behalf of Valery Belyanin
> Sent: Thu 7/26/2007 6:48 AM
> To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
> Subject: [SEELANGS] bulling and teasing in Russian
>
> Those who are interested in Russian informal speech
> may have fun reading about teasing and bulling in children behaviour
> http://www.svobodanews.ru/Article/2007/07/23/20070723135448860.html
> My main point was that teasing and bulling may be dangerous from
> psychological point of view and not so charming as it may seem to  
> adults who
> love language game.
> --  
> Valery Belyanin, PhD in psycholinguistics
>
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