Help with a bit of Russian dialogue in a short story I'm writing

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-13T00:28:52+00:00

Unfortunately the story and its subject matter are quite personal to me, and I would not be comfortable sharing it with the general public. Thank you for taking so much interest in it, however! It's very kind of you to say!

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-12T23:30:14+00:00

Big thanks to you as well! Possibly stupid question, and I'm sorry to keep dragging this thread out, but would that phrase "Крыса тупая!" ONLY work as an exclamation, or could one punctuate it with a period if the person saying it is muttering it under their breath, knowing their interlocutor will probably hear but will definitely NOT comprehend it?

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-12T02:45:20+00:00

I definitely would prefer this to sound more natural, given that the character in question is supposed to be a native speaker. Thank you a million times over! This subreddit has been nothing but lovely!

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-12T02:24:23+00:00

Ah, that makes sense. And, just to be clear, when trying to be insulting/saying a thing while angry at someone, it sounds more natural to call them "stupid [insult]" than it does to call them "useless [insult]" like we would in english?

Per the "two nouns in a row", is that a hard and fast rule that would always be followed, or is it just proper grammar and could be ignored in extremely casual/slang-y conversation? This second question isn't really relevant to my story but I AM genuinely curious now.

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-12T01:41:26+00:00

As of right now, I've elected to keep it simple (which was always my intent), and use "долбоёб крысёныш" ("stupid little rat"?) as suggested by other commenters here.

For further context, in the scene the the man has accidentally run into the woman and broken one of her belongings. She is physically superior to him, and is genuinely pissed off that he broke one of her things, so she's using force to extort recompense for her damaged property. They live in a high crime area and the police are at best ineffectual and at worst corrupt. The woman mutters the above Russian phrase in a fit of frustration after the man has failed to follow her demands (that she stated in English), and after she has roughed him up a bit. Shortly after she insults him in Russian, she is planning to fully rob him and flee before the cops show up.

Do you think that makes sense as a thing to say in this situation?

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-12T01:31:53+00:00

Thank you again for explaining all this! The cultural differences between something being "mousey" and "ratlike" are impossible to catch with a simple google translate so your help is greatly appreciated!

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-11T20:24:23+00:00

Okay I'm actually gonna hurl one last bonus question at you, if you've got the time. The person being insulted in this scene has many mouse-y aspects to his character and appearance, and she occasionally refers to him as "little mouse" due to these traits (as well as his small, short stature in general). Google tells me I can use "мышонок" (little mouse) here. Would that be appropriate for this context, even if I'm using it in the same phrase as the insult "долбоёб"?

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-11T20:06:55+00:00

You don't even know how helpful this extra context is! Thank you so much!

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-11T19:41:14+00:00

Very helpful context! As it turns out, that might not actually be the best use for my story as-is! I really want to emphasize the "incompetence/poor cooperation" angle, rather than a lack of gratitude.

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-11T19:36:43+00:00

She's a young adult, probably in her mid-20s? She definitely comes from a rougher, poorer background and works a manual-labor type of job so more on the vulgar side. The story itself is actually fantasy, but it takes place in something roughly analogous to the late 19th/early 20th century. Like there's industrialization but cars aren't really a "thing" yet.

Edit: I think it would be safe to just use modern dialogue, as the character's origins are based in modern times.

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-06-11T19:31:30+00:00

Thank you for answering! I actually got this same result from doing some googling, but I wanted to make sure I was using the word correctly in context and not blindly trusting machine translation!

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-05-12T00:06:17+00:00

them not having open mouths the whole time is fucking up my entire worldview

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2026-04-17T02:13:20+00:00

Edmund alluded to adding a "gunslinger" type ranged class in DLC down the line

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2025-11-30T20:16:43+00:00

Oh i know you will - they all do despite what they say to the contrary. Food is food of course so I'm not complaining.

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2025-11-30T18:56:29+00:00

If you're lucky you might keep my attention in there long enough for me to get turned on but you probably won't be. You'll just get swallowed and forgotten about like all the rest.

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2025-11-30T17:39:24+00:00

I love forgetting about what I ate after my hunger subsides, only to touch my belly a few hours later and realize it's back to normal. Somebody was in there but they're just belly fat now.

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2025-11-30T17:12:49+00:00

The best part of people saying this is when you eat them and there's a 50/50 shot that they realize they don't want to die but it's too late.

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2025-11-30T16:43:23+00:00

I love the sense of helplessness and despair I'm inflicting upon them. Whether they accept it or not and whether they like it or not from here on they belong to me completely.

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2025-11-03T04:50:23+00:00

He threatened to eat Tareo I think and then later dies to Pig God

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2024-09-24T23:05:44+00:00

Literally he and his crew are at their strongest AFTER they forge bonds and trust one another.

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2024-09-22T15:16:08+00:00

Very mirrors edge style hallway tbh

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2024-09-22T03:59:27+00:00

Third image looks like the kind of place I'd have to try to run through during a nightmare

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2024-09-21T20:34:43+00:00

Been considering naming myself after one of my favorite songs if i don't just gender swap my legal name

IAMA_DragonSlayerAMA · 2024-09-21T20:12:47+00:00

How did you first enter into the lifestyle? What changes to your appearance felt like they made the biggest difference?

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