боже мой
bozhe moy
The Russian phrase for 'omg' is боже мой (bozhe moy).
боже мой is used to express a wide range of emotions including shock, surprise, dismay or even exasperation, similar to the English 'Oh my God'.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is a literal translation of 'my god', where боже is the vocative/calling form of бог (god) and мой means 'my'.
How do you pronounce it?
bozhe moy
Did you know?
- In very informal or youth slang, боже мой is sometimes replaced by the loanword о май гад written in Cyrillic. This is a direct phonetic import of the English 'oh my god'.
- The word боже in боже мой is in the vocative case, a grammatical form used specifically for addressing someone. While the vocative case has mostly disappeared from modern Russian, it survives in these set phrases.
- Russians may say боже мой while shaking their head or placing a hand on their forehead, a gesture of dismay that differs from the 'eyes wide' look of English surprise.
Examples in context
- Боже мой!OMG!This example shows how to use боже мой to express 'OMG!'Tatoeba #2337352 by namikiri, translation #12299404 by Adelpa
- Ой, боже мой!Oh, my God!
- Вот это да!Wow, that's something!
- Боже мой, что здесь произошло?Bozhe moy, chto zdes' proizoshlo?Omg, what happened here?
- Боже мой, это слишком дорого!Bozhe moy, eto slishkom dorogo!Omg, this is too expensive!
Example conversation
Alexander and Olga are looking at a very expensive menu in a restaurant.
- Александр AleksandrОльга, посмотри на эти цены.Ol'ga, posmotri na eti tseny.Olga, look at these prices.
- Ольга OlgaБоже мой, это просто невероятно!Bozhe moy, eto prosto neveroyatno!Omg, it is just unbelievable!
- Александр AleksandrНам нужно найти другое место.Nam nuzhno nayti drugoye mesto.We need to find another place.
- Ольга OlgaСогласна, Александр.Soglasna, Aleksandr.I agree, Alexander.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
