ВАЛЯТЬ (ЛОМАТЬ, КОРЧИТЬ) ДУРАКА
coll,
disapprovВАЛЯТЬ (ЛОМАТЬ, КОРЧИТЬ) ВАНЬКУ (ДУРОЧКУ)
highly coll ,
disapprovVPsubj:
human 1. Also: СТРОИТЬ ДУРОЧКУ highly coll , disapprov to pretend not to understand, know about sth. , feign stupidity (in order to fool s.o. ): X валяет дурака = X plays the fool
X plays dumb.
2. to act in such a way as to amuse (and occas. annoy) others with one's tricks, anecdotes etc, behave mischievously, in a silly manner
X валял дурака - X was playing (acting) the fool
X was monkeying (clowning, fooling) around(in limited contexts) X was up to his (usual) tricks
хватит валять дурака! - quit fooling around!
cut (out) the monkey business.
3. Also: СВАЛИТЬ ДУРАКА (ВАНЬКУ, ДУРОЧКУ ) (if impfv , often neg imper or infin with хватит, брось etc) to act irresponsibly, unintelligently, unseriously, make a stupid blunder
X валяет дурака - X is fooling around
X is being a foolX is being stupid
X свалял дурака - X did a stupid thing
X put his foot in it (in(to) his mouth)X pulled a bonerX goofed (up)X blew itX made a fool (out) of himself
Neg Imper не валяй дурака - quit fooling (around)!
don't be a fool!
4. (variants with валять only) to be idle, spend time lazily
X валял дурака - X fooled (fiddled) away the (his) time
X goofed off.