There are two Russian languages: The romantic language of Tolstoy and practical Russian that you need to be able to communicate effectively with a Russian person on the streets of Tyumen, Moscow, St. Petersburg or anywhere.
It's important not to curse in the presence of a Russian who holds a higher social or business position than you do. To Russian bosses, four-letter words are all about power. The boss is the one who is allowed to curse.
Some of the more important words you need to know if you're trying to communicate and get your point across on the streets of Russia are these: blyad (whore), buy y shopu (dick up his ass), naekhat (throw somebody under a bus), razborka (settling a problem), sosi huy! (a refusal), Nuzhen kak zub v zhope! (literally it means "I need that like I need a tooth in my ass", meaning, I need that like a fish needs a bicycle or I need that like I need a hole in my head)
Understanding Russian profanity is critical to being able to communicate to the common taxi driver or to survive interactions. Perhaps Julia will want to add something here.
Apologies for no Cyrillic keyboard.
