на всякий пожарный

More from "Russian idioms"

• бабушка надвое сказала

  ~ there's many a slip between the cup and the lip (idiomatic expression, lit. - the grandmother told in two)

• врать с три короба

  tell a bunch of lies

• кидать камень в огород

  (lit.) to throw a stone at someone's garden to hint at someone with a negative connotation

• расшибиться в лепёшку

  to lay oneself out, to go out of one's way, to lean over backwards (lit: to smash oneself into a flat cake)

• трещать по швам

  (lit.) to burst at the seams to be in a state of complete decline, to fall apart, to collapse; (also about clothing) to be too tight to the wearer

• ни пуха, ни пера

  (lit. neither fluff nor feather) a wish of good luck to someone that's supposed to be answered with "к чёрту!" (lit. - to the devil)

• жаба душит

  one is being greedy or stingy

• на безрыбье и рак рыба

  beggars can't be choosers; in a pinch anything will do; any port in a storm

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