путать хрен с редькой

English translation: can't tell chicken shit from chicken salad

14:49 Sep 5, 2006

Russian to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

Russian term or phrase: путать хрен с редькой

...

Yulia Shevchenko KudoZ activity Questions: 86 (5 open) (2 closed without grading) Answers: 127 United States
Local time: 16:48

English translation:can't tell chicken shit from chicken salad

Explanation:
The contestants (except for Troy) are all irritating, self-consumed Yuppies who can't tell chickenshit from chicken salad. It's clearly over-edited. ...
www.jumptheshark.com/a/apprentice.htm

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Note added at 15 hrs (2006-09-06 06:46:53 GMT)
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Here's another one (very slangy):

can't tell owlshit from putty without a map

Can't tell owlshit from putty without a map Chimney's clogged. Couldn't find his ass with both hands at high noon Couldn't find one's way to first base ...
www.writersdreamtools.com/view/guest/slang.asp?WordID=641

Selected response from:

Andrew Vdovin
Local time: 03:48

Grading comment

Thank you to absolutely everyone! Gary! The apples and oranges version is great but the "chickenshit/salad" had just the right amount of sarcasm for what I wanted - and the elbow/hole in the ground is a perfectly good version too but it seemed to be bit too "literal" for my purposes.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +4

can't tell your arse from your elbow

Jack Doughty

3 +2

to confuse apples with oranges

GaryG

don't know your elbow from a hole in the ground

Deborah Hoffman

can't tell chicken shit from chicken salad

Andrew Vdovin

As like as chalk and cheese

Irina Kondratieva

Discussion entries: 10

Answers

40 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

can't tell your arse from your elbow

Explanation:
Sorry, if it were possible to mark this "This answer may offend", I would do so.
It only works for UK English. Google has nothing for the US spelling of a$$.

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Note added at 42 mins (2006-09-05 15:31:35 GMT)
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can't tell arse from elbow - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary ...
if you can't tell your arse from your elbow, you are stupid and become confused about simple things. It's no good asking him to organize anything - he can't ...
idioms.thefreedictionary.com/can't+tell+arse+from+elbow - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

YouThink.com - Forums > Quiz Comments - Can You Tell Your ARSE ...
You really can't tell your arse from your elbow. But don't worry! Try doing the quiz again, only this time not getting as many questions wrong. ...
www.youthink.com/forums.asp?action=read&ct=14&q_id=1308 - 67k - Cached - Similar pages

YouThink.com - Quiz - Personality Test
Can You Tell Your ARSE From Your ELBOW? Quiz created by: biffa. Surveys show that a shocking 60% of school leavers still can`t tell their arse from their ...
www.youthink.com/quiz.asp?action=take&quiz_id=1308 - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

Can you tell your clunis from your cubitus? A benchmark for ...
“Can't tell your arse from your elbow”—if you can't tell your arse from your elbow, you are stupid and become confused about simple things. ...
www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=536001

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:48
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 503

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

sergey (X): yes, хрен could be a euphemism for х** in russian so your suggestion wouldn't go amiss, but i think it's better to stick to vegetables without any context...

1 hr

-> Thank you. Maybe, but I have never heard of GaryG's apples and oranges (maybe it's US English only), and I can't think of any such greengrocery expression in UK English.

agree

Sara Noss

4 hrs

-> Thank you.

neutral

Sergei Tumanov: увы, это очень хороший перевод другого выражения: он ложку в ухо несет. (когда ест суп)

15 hrs

-> Thank you.

agree

David Copeland: The US version would be "can't tell your a$$ from a hole in the ground"

20 hrs

-> Thank you. I didn't know that.

agree

ochkarik: just because apples and oranges are too sweet to be a good translation

1 day 53 mins

-> Thank you. But apples and oranges can be sour, "as sure as God made little green apples" (a rather odd UK English idiom).

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

to confuse apples with oranges

Explanation:
Usually said when something is citing something in a wrong category
when trying to make a point.

Alternatively, and in the spirit of Jack's answer, "can't tell sh*t from Shinola (a shoe polish)" :-)

GaryG
Local time: 16:48
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 107

5 hrs confidence:

don't know your elbow from a hole in the ground

Explanation:
And of course elbow (like хрен) can also stand for something ruder, in this case "don't know your a$$ from a hole in the ground"

Only works for the US, as far as I know...

Deborah Hoffman
Local time: 16:48
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

15 hrs confidence:

can't tell chicken shit from chicken salad

Andrew Vdovin
Local time: 03:48
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Russian
PRO pts in category: 83

Grading comment

15 hrs confidence:

As like as chalk and cheese

Explanation:
http://cgi.peak.org/~jeremy/retort.cgi?British=like chalk an...

кстати, хрен редьки не слаще - between two evils it is not worth choosing

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Note added at 16 hrs (2006-09-06 06:49:23 GMT)
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или вариация “that’s chalk and cheese!"

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Note added at 16 hrs (2006-09-06 06:51:59 GMT)
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"They are no more like than chalk is like cheese. There may be a slight apparent resemblance, but there is no real likeness"

http://www.bartleby.com/81/3340.html

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Note added at 16 hrs (2006-09-06 06:54:07 GMT)
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"As different as chalk and cheese is an old proverbial phrase to suggest that two things, superficially alike, are totally different in their qualities"

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cha4.htm

Irina Kondratieva
Russian Federation
Local time: 23:48
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 4

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путать хрен с редькой

English translation: can't tell chicken shit from chicken salad

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