Bedeutung
In the middle of nowhere.
Kultureller Hintergrund
The state railway is a source of many jokes and idioms in Bulgaria due to its aging infrastructure and frequent delays. 'Девета глуха' is the most famous of these. Many Bulgarian villages are becoming 'deaf' (silent) as young people move to cities. The idiom reflects the literal silence of these dying places. The phrase was often used to describe how inconvenient ideas or people were 'archived' or moved to places where they couldn't cause trouble. In Sofia, people use this for new neighborhoods that lack infrastructure like paved roads or public transport.
Use it for travel
It's the perfect way to complain about a hotel that looked close to the city on the map but is actually an hour away.
Not for hearing
Remember, this has nothing to do with ears. Don't use it to describe a quiet room or a deaf person.
Bedeutung
In the middle of nowhere.
Use it for travel
It's the perfect way to complain about a hotel that looked close to the city on the map but is actually an hour away.
Not for hearing
Remember, this has nothing to do with ears. Don't use it to describe a quiet room or a deaf person.
Add 'забит'
Saying 'забит в девета глуха' makes you sound much more like a native speaker who is truly annoyed by the distance.
Teste dich selbst
Complete the sentence with the correct preposition and idiom.
Живея в малко село, което е ________ ________ ________.
The correct form is 'в девета глуха'.
Which sentence uses the idiom correctly to mean 'ignored'?
Изберете правилното изречение:
This correctly uses the figurative sense of being sidelined or ignored.
Fill in the missing part of the dialogue.
- Защо закъсня? - Защото хотелът е ________ ________ ________ и нямаше автобуси.
The context of 'no buses' and 'being late' suggests a remote location.
Match the situation to the use of 'в девета глуха'.
Situation: A politician is given a job in a tiny, unimportant department.
Being sent to an unimportant department is a classic 'sidelining' scenario.
🎉 Ergebnis: /4
Visuelle Lernhilfen
Where to use it
Travel
- • Remote hotels
- • Bad roads
- • Long trips
Work
- • Shelved projects
- • Sidelined staff
- • Ignored emails
Aufgabensammlung
4 AufgabenЖивея в малко село, което е ________ ________ ________.
The correct form is 'в девета глуха'.
Изберете правилното изречение:
This correctly uses the figurative sense of being sidelined or ignored.
- Защо закъсня? - Защото хотелът е ________ ________ ________ и нямаше автобуси.
The context of 'no buses' and 'being late' suggests a remote location.
Situation: A politician is given a job in a tiny, unimportant department.
Being sent to an unimportant department is a classic 'sidelining' scenario.
🎉 Ergebnis: /4
Häufig gestellte Fragen
10 FragenIn Bulgarian folklore and idioms, nine is often used to represent the maximum or the extreme (like 'behind nine lands in the tenth').
Yes, but it means they are isolated or ignored, not that they are physically far away. 'Той е в девета глуха' means he is out of the loop.
It's not a swear word, but it is informal. Don't use it to describe your boss's office to their face!
There isn't a direct idiomatic opposite, but you could say 'в центъра на събитията' (in the center of events).
The word 'track' (коловоз) is usually omitted now. People just say 'в девета глуха'.
Similar concepts exist, but the 'ninth deaf track' is very specific to Bulgarian railway history.
No, the number is fixed. Changing it makes the idiom sound wrong.
Yes, it's frequently used in Bulgarian cinema to describe characters living in forgotten provincial towns.
No, because 'девета глуха' implies a negative isolation, not a positive quietness.
Three words: в (preposition), девета (ninth), глуха (deaf).
Verwandte Redewendungen
Накрай света
synonymAt the end of the world
В джендема
synonymIn the abyss/hell
Глух коловоз
builds onDead-end track
Забито място
similarA stuck/remote place
