#RussianProverb: To Go to Tula with Your Own Samovar

Samovar in the form of steam locomotive from Tula, Russia (the 2nd half of the 19th century).

Ездить в Тулу со своим самоваром (yézdit’ v Túlu so svoim samovárom).

Literally: to go to Tula with your own samovar*.

Samovar from Tula, Russia (the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century). — Samovar from Tula, Russia (the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century).

English equivalents:

carry coal to Newcastle;
send owls to Athens.

* ‘Samovar’ itself can be literally translated as ‘self-boiler’.

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P.S. As samovar is part of Western mythology about Russia – klyukvification – I recommend reading my posts on Russian stereotypes in the West (especially №2).

4 thoughts on “#RussianProverb: To Go to Tula with Your Own Samovar”

Interesting Sergey, in Spanish we have exactly the opposite proverb: “donde fueres, has lo que vieres” -> “wherever you go, do what you see”. Unfortunately, we dont have proverbs with samovar.

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20.05.2014 at 22:56 Reply