After reading the title, a question will surely have arisen spontaneously: don’t they speak normal Russian in St. Petersburg? Well, sure, they do speak it. The language that is spoken in St. Petersburg is the same that is spoken in Moscow, Irkutsk or Vladivostok.
The locals, however, have their own way of saying certain words, using their own special slang.
These words are mostly used while speaking, and they’re an “altered” version of the official Russian version of the same term. It’s important to know all the local language nuances as they are an integral part of culture – like all those idioms and expressions that make you sound more fluent when you speak Russian.
Rest assured that if a person in Spb hears you use these words during a conversation, they will be pleasantly surprised.
1. Official Russian version: шаурма – šaurma
SPB version: шаверма – šaverma
This is the name of a typical Middle Eastern food. It is made of meat (usually beef, chicken, or lamb) that is marinated, roasted slowly on a spit, and cut into thin slices. It is often wrapped in pita bread and served with vegetables and hummus. It is really popular in St. Petersburg, especially as a takeout.
2. Official Russian version: бордюр – bordjur
SPB version: поребрик – porebrik
This is the word for “border”. The two versions are quite different right?
3. Official Russian version: гречка – grečka
SPB version: греча – greča
This word means “buckwheat”, which has numerous health benefits and is tasty, easy to prepare and inexpensive. Did you know that Russia has the largest gross buckwheat consumption per capita in the world?
4. Official Russian version: курица – kuritsa
SPB version: кура – kura
Russians who do not live in Saint Petersburg find the local version of the word for “chicken meat” really funny. At least, it is faster to say… but be careful, it only applies to chicken meat, not the bird!
5. Official Russian version: булка – bulka
SPB version: батон – baton
It turns out that the expression “loaf of bread” using the word булка is quite bizarre in St. Petersburg (although both of these words are only used when talking about white bread; for every other variety of bread everyone uses the word хлеб).
6. Official Russian version: водолазка – vodolazka
SPB version: бадлон – badlon
There’s an interesting story behind the word for “turtleneck”. According to one version, Ban-Lon was the name of a fabric, which was made by an American company during the 50s. According to other sources, that material was developed by the Indians. Anyway, it was an artificial nylon-type fabric, from which fashionable turtlenecks and socks were made. As you can see the word badlon is really similar to Ban-Lon.
And now that you know these words… you’re ready for an authentic SPB conversation!