To hit on someone, to pick up, to flirt, to make a move on someone, to chat up. Derived from the noun кадр (literally personnel/staff in a professional context). In Soviet-era youth and student slang, a highly attractive person was jokingly referred to as a кадр (a catch or a prime specimen). This gave rise to the verb кадрить, which means to actively and deliberately try to seduce or win someone’s romantic interest (он весь вечер пытается её кадрить — “he’s been trying to hit on her all evening”).
Девчонки, зачем каждый раз когда меняем семейное положение, пишем: «Я начинаю жизнь сначала!»… Давайте писать: «Один козёл ушел, будем новых кадрить!»
Girls, why do we write every time we change our relationship status: “I’m starting life anew!”… Let’s write: “One arsehole is gone, let’s look for new ones!”
(Анеля Абдушева @ mail.ru, 08/2011)
Тёлки были, но что-то я так и не смог определиться, какую тёлку лучше кадрить, и пока я тормозил уже все свалили.
There were chicks, but I couldn’t decide which chick was better to pick up, and while I was slowly pondering everyone had already left.
(Фёдорыч, 12/2011)
