Страдать фигнёй... What does it mean?

In Russian, like in any other language, there are expressions that sound quite strange and cannot be understood literally. One such expression is 'страдать фигней/хернёй' (informal).

In fact, it is equivalent to 'дурью маяться' - to idle. 'Страдать' and 'маяться' can be translated as 'to suffer' in English. Interestingly, in Russian, idlers are associated with suffering. Another similar expression is 'маяться от безделья' (to suffer from idleness).

The words фигня and херня mean insignificant or unimportant things, while дурь is something stupid or just nonsense.

Another good expression that can be used to describe idleness is 'валять дурака' (fool around, goof off). The literal translation of "валять дурака" is "to roll a fool" but its figurative meaning pertains to being lazy or idle. It can also convey a sense of silliness or engaging in frivolous behavior.

I hope you have understood when to use the phrases mentioned above. See you in the next post!