Posted on 07/27/2015 2:34:53 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
Ignorance of the Russian language put a French MP into a very confusing situation.
When in the Crimea, the French MP bought a T-shirt with a notorious slogan "Obama, you're a douchebag" written in Russian on it (pic of the shirt here). The MP did not even think that there could be obscene language used on the shirt with an image of Russian and US presidents.
"It was the photo of Putin and Obama that attracted my attention, and I could not even assume that there was an offensive word used on it. I learned about it only an hour later," gazeta.ru quoted the MP as saying.
Last week, a group of French parliamentarians visited the Crimea. The head of the group, MP Thierry Mariani, told reporters that the French Foreign Ministry expressed serious concerns about the decision of the parliament, but they did not cancel the visit to the Crimea, the purpose of which was to see the real state of affairs in the region.
As a result of the visit, the French MPs said that the reunification of the Crimea with the Russian Federation was legitimate. Kiev announced the members of the French delegation in the Crimea personas non grata in Ukraine. - See more at: http://english.pravda.ru/news/society/27-07-2015/131472-obama_douchebag_tshirt-0/#sthash.TzB1AFTI.dpuf
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I was born Insensitive! Except around the ladies, little children and old folks of course.
And I don't take the Lord's name in vain. If I even thought about it, "The Look" from Dad kept my tongue civil.
Yes I know that, but it changes its sound when preceding some consonants, such ‘m’.
Consider the suffix transliterated to the Latin “ogo” but pronounced “uvuh”, at least in St. Petersburg.
And of course the word transliterated to the Latin alphabet as “chto” but pronounced “shto”.
it's pronounced CHmo, like in CHicken.
I've heard that word many times but never knew the meaning. Guess now I do. LOL
Ha, ha, le douchebag!
About all I remember of my two semesters of college Russian is the alphabet—which I naively thought was going to be the big hurdle in learning the language! I still use it to jot down things I don’t want others to read—like my ideas for Christmas gifts for my wife–drives her nuts.
But the language itself, after a comparatively easy language like Spanish, is incredibly complex. I never mastered the grammar, which to a learner seems hopelessly complicated. So, I’ll take your word for it—shto it is.
> So, I’ll take your word for it—shto it is.
Well, that’s how they pronounce it in the Slavic Baptist churches I’ve visited.
The alphabet is an adaptation of the Greek alphabet, given to the slavic nations by Cyril the monk in the 9th century.
The western Slavic nations got stuck with the Latin alphabet, I surmise, because the Baltic Mohammedans separated them from their Eastern brethren.
Not necessarily. As someone who was in a Russian Immersion Program and who was carefully tutored by a Russian teacher (she took a particular interest in me because I seemed to take to the language very easily), 'chto' and 'shto' is a dialect thing. In the northern areas, it is 'shto' and in the southern areas it is 'chto'. And it is funny because in America, it is the south that is considered uncultured and backwards, whereas in Russia, it is the NORTH that is considered uncultured or backwards.
> In the northern areas, it is ‘shto’ and in the southern
> areas it is ‘chto’.
Yes, the people who taught me were from St. Petersburg area.
But I don’t think any of them would consider themselves as rubes. :)
Amazing people, though.
I love their ascerbic sense of humor and that Russian half-smile.
Little piece of trivia: If a Russian male puffs his cheeks out a little, there is a greater likelihood they are about to take a poke at you.
For some odd reason, Russians think it looks ‘tougher’ when you puff up your cheeks a little bit.
One I learned from actual experience: If you are sightseeing some of their national treasures or monuments, and there is a very young Russian soldier guarding it with an AK-47 (carbine version), DO NOT be loud and boisterous, because said young Russian will unsling the weapon, glare at you, and menacingly and loudly and conspicuously ‘click’ off the safety.
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