показать кузькину мать

Russian

Etymology
  • Literally, "to show Kuzka's mother" (to someone). The proverbial Ку́зька (Kúzʹka) is no-one in particular. It may be a pejorative short name for Кузьма́ (Kuzʹmá, “Kuzma, male name”) or a dog's name. Possibly implying that little puppy Kuzka's mother is a big and vicious dog.
  • The possessive form ку́зькин (kúzʹkin) is normally in lower case because it is a set expression.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [pəkɐˈzatʲ ˈkusʲkʲɪnʊ ˈmatʲ]

Verb

показа́ть ку́зькину ма́ть • (pokazátʹ kúzʹkinu mátʹ) pf (imperfective пока́зывать ку́зькину ма́ть)

  1. (derogatory) to teach someone a lesson
    Synonym: показа́ть, где ра́ки зиму́ют (pokazátʹ, gde ráki zimújut, literally “to show where crayfish/yabbies spend a winter”)
    «Мы вам пока́жем ку́зькину ма́ть!»
    «My vam pokážem kúzʹkinu mátʹ!»
    "We'll teach you a lesson!" (used by Nikita Khrushchov in 1959 addressed to Richard Nixon)

Conjugation
Conjugation of показать кузькину мать: see показа́ть
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