Dermo!: The Real Russian Tolstoy Never Used | Edward Topol

Dermo!: The Real Russian Tolstoy Never Used | Edward Topol | The "Russian" some RUSSIANS never knew exsisted!

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Dermo!: The Real R...

	Dermo!: The Real Russian Tolstoy Never Used Edward Topol Plume, 1997 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 20 reviews view larger image
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For anyone looking to communicate effectively and impressively in Russian, Dermo! provides the essential vocabulary and anecdotes on such subjects as sex, politics, business, and literature. A humorous guide to everyday Russian, Dermo! is replete with words, idioms, and phrases, including vulgarisms, never used in literary classics but always heard on Russia's streets.

Morbid curiosity....

Somewhat reluctant to buy this book, I let my curiosity get the best of me and am I ever glad! I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my sofa. Will these words ever be used? Maybe not by me, but at least I will know what the taxi driver is grumbling under his breath next time I'm over there. This book contains a few idiomatic expressions that can be used in polite company, and quite a few more that you will need if you end up in a bar, - it covers everything from how to toast to how to "hook-up". More importantly, if you know what insults people, you'll better understand how not to insult people.

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The "Russian" some RUSSIANS never knew exsisted!

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart! Vulgar or not, Topol exposes Mother Russia. Speaking proper Russian will only get a mediocre "C" in a Russian University ... maybe pre-k teaching job . Topol's Russian will get you the presidecency! - This book might explain Rasputin's appeal. One must realize that Russians do not hold much back in the way of expressing one's emotion as opposed to American counterparts...True, foreign speakers have to be mindful of what is said, but that applies to Americans, since we are notoriously personas non-gratas in practically every country we invade. In typical Russian conversation, an adult granddaughter would ask her grandmother " how were 'girls' and if they were getting any bigger (chest) and if her nether was region getting any hairier." Shocking as it might seem, this type of exchange is embedded in the Russian culture, both beautiful and lurid. To take the good, you'll have to swallow the bad...it wouldn't hurt to know a few good words on your next business trip!!The only down side to the book was the lack of accent marks, which my Russian friend had to keep correcting.

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Almost perfect, but no stress marks

This is an entertaining, well-written little book, and it covers a wide range of colloquialisms, vulgarity, and obscenities. Much of the language is extremely crude and...vivid, but you shouldn't expect anything different if you're buying a book focused on everything you won't learn in a Western classroom. And to briefly address the negative reviews: Some of you guys are really insane; it's not that the book presents things that are inaccurate or untrue, but apparently several people here are in denial that Russia has some nasty insults and slang. In English, there are plenty of nasty, rude, disgusting, vulgar, etc. words and phrases. They aren't used in all situations, and some people don't use such words at all, but all English speakers KNOW these words. If you want to be fluent in Russian, one aspect is knowing what bad words and insults are. The author never suggests going around insulting people...he just gives you the information.

Anyways, the book has quite a large number of words and phrases, and also gives short but interesting introductions/backgrounds to the various topics. The only problem I have with the book is the poor transliteration and the lack of stress marks. For instance, the Russian o is an "ah" sound if it's unstressed, and although the book will give a transliteration, it doesn't show a stress mark, nor does it account for the change in pronunciation of the unstressed/stressed o's. I also noticed that sometimes e is written instead of , which can be confusing for a learner.

Overall, the content is great (assuming you don't want to shelter yourself from anything that isn't polite and proper), but the book comes up short as far as pronunciation tools.

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A "Must Have" for students of Russian.

The previous reviews cover just about everything I wanted to say about Dermo. I am very pleased with this book and do NOT agree with the negative reviews.

In regards to the missing stress marks, I have another small book called "Dictionary of Russian Obscenities" (available from Amazon), which lists all the same words and DOES have stress marks. However, it is not nearly as entertaining as Dermo.

I highly recommend this book!

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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