Russians think that they “send hello”

It is so exciting to compare different cultures and languages.

English people use the phrase “Say hello to my close friend”, when they want to greet a person, haven’t seen for a long time. But Russian people use the phrase, that can be better translated as “Send hello to my close friend”, in the Russian language it sounds like: “Передавай привет моему другу” 👋 So, Russians think, that they send “hello” as if it were something material 🎁 Compare: “передать подарок” (send a present) and “передать привет” (send hello).

The tradition to consider “привет” (hello) a material thing possibly began a long time ago during The Great Patriotic War when 📬 postal communication was the only way of greeting loved ones in separation. In those days the postman came to the house with an ✉ envelope in his hand and said such phrase: “Вам привет из Ленинграда” 👋 (as far as Saint Petersburg called Leningrad till 1991.)

But today we can tell you: “Вам привет из Санкт Петербурга” 😉