Archive for 'Culture'
Love Me Russian! or a little something about the diminutive [Part I: Introduction] Posted by josefina on Apr 22, 2010
In English language the grammatical term ‘diminutive’ translates as a diminutive word or suffix word indicating small size (such as “booklet”, etc.), a shortened form of a name or a name indicating fondness and that it can also be used to describe a very small person or a very small thing. In Russian language this…
I Love Volgograd Posted by yelena on Apr 20, 2010
Volgograd, my hometown, is relatively obscure in the West. Most Americans ask me where in Russia I am from and look seemingly lost when I say I’m from Volgograd. The notable exceptions are these three categories: «Знатоки Второй Мировой войны» [WWII history buffs] – «Сталинградская битва» [Battle of Stalingrad] was one of the major battles…
A Russian Post-modern Classic: Венедикт Ерофеев’s «Москва-Петушки» Posted by josefina on Apr 16, 2010
The post-modern pseudo-autobiographical classic «”Москва–Петушки” Венедикта Ерофеева» [“Moscow-Petushki” by Venedikt Yerofeev] has been translated into English as “Moscow to the End of the Line”, “Moscow Stations” and “Moscow Circles” (all of the above are very correct titles). But it should of course be read «в подлиннике» [in the original] – as should all other «произведения…
Real Poetry for Real Russians – Part II Posted by yelena on Apr 14, 2010
Remember the Real Poetry for Real Russians post? At the end of it I promised to tell you whether having to memorize, as children, lots and lots of poems helps Russians in practical daily life. I was all fired up to write the Part II of this post when something quite unexpected happened – I…
Russian-English Linguistic Perpendicular Posted by yelena on Apr 7, 2010
Long time ago I read a Russian sci-fi story that was titled, if I’m not mistaken, «Лингвистический перпендикуляр» [Linguistic Perpendicular]. In this short story, we, the Earthlings, were trying to establish communications with the aliens. The aliens were very friendly and peaceful, but unfortunately every word in their language meant some kind of curse word…
«Христос воскресе!» [Christ is Risen!] Posted by josefina on Apr 4, 2010
Outside of the church closest to where I live in Yekaterinburg they put up the following poster a few days ago: «4 (четвёртого) апреля – светлое Христово Воскресение» [The 4th of April – the Bright Resurrection of Christ]. «Христос воскресе!» [Christ is risen!]. The following quote turned out too small for you to read on…
Russian Food – the Joy of Cooking Beets Posted by yelena on Apr 3, 2010
Let me start with a little ditty by a Polish poet Julian Tuwim that I learned years back in my then-Soviet elementary school: Russian English Хозяйка однажды с базара пришла, Хозяйка с базара домой принесла: Картошку, Капусту, Морковку, Горох, Петрушку и свёклу. Ох!… Once at a farmers’ market a housewife bought And back to her…