Importing English: Signs on the Street

Hello from Rostov-on-Don. Care to join me for an afternoon stroll through the city center? Here are photos taken Sunday afternoon, shots of some Russian-English cognates, words pulled directly into one language from another. We've done this before together and it was fun. So let's get going...


On the sign above, Сити is lifted from English and its pronunciation approximates City. Translation: City Footwear. Oops, poor sign dropped a letter. Well, we know what it means. And besides that off to the left is posted another sign, that white one, that says the same thing. Footwear is like that though, isn't it. Sometimes things fall off. Such as heels. Oh boy have you ever had that happen?


If you drool just reading the sign, it's no wonder. It says Juice and that's exactly how it would be pronounced in Russian. This sign is in cursive font, so that's why the first letter is д rather than Д. In print it would be Джус. They have drinks and stuff there.


How about taking a Jaguar on a test drive? On the back door above, the last two words are test drive, тэст драйв, pronounced very close to the English. At the bottom, the same words are under the Jaguar emblem, but written in cursive. And so you see that the Russian letter T (formed same as in English), in cursive is written т. (Got that?) =)


Here is a ATM. At the top of the blue section, банкомат is bank-o-mat. At the bottom, you see something familiar, the number 24. I'm sooo glad that numbers are written basically the same. I mean, what if the idea of two were represented, say, by a star? Or four by a. . . smiley face? Oh my, oh my I shudder to think about translating number symbols. This says 24 hours , referring to the bankomat.


Well here's something quite familiar! Western Union doesn't even try to look Russian. Those folks who transfer funds, the things they get away with. Well, this says money transfers.


So thank you for join me on a little walk through town. Actually, these shots were taken along one street within three city blocks. So there's lots more! And...as always, a standing invitation to Sveta in Moscow - who blogs with her husband at Windows to Russia - to correct me on any of this! (And Sveta don't even try to persuade me that Test Drive comes from Greek rather than English! =)

Clever Russian Calender

Here's a clever calendar published by a Russian firm. January is a Russian scene, what you would see out a windshield driving in Russia. Each month features a view from a different country including Italy, Germany and Japan. But you have to guess at it.



Thanks to English Russia for this entertaining post. It's worth a visit and perfect for children too.

Officer on the Job

Officer, Are You For Real?

A traffic cop waved his black-and-white baton signaling the car behind us to pull over. I was in a taxi heading toward the outskirts of the city. Snow piled high along our route was aglow in the late afternoon sun.

"Ooh-rah! So glad we didn't get pulled over!" I exclaimed in Russian.

The driver glanced at me in his rearview mirror and nodded. "All they want is money."

I'd heard that before but I wasn't going to be the first to bring it up.

"How much do they want?" I probed.

"Oh, around 500 rubles for a documents violation and maybe 150 for something minor." The driver's brown eyes glanced toward me in the mirror.

"That's outragous! If police in the States did that, it would be a major scandal!"

"Well, this way the fine is lower and the driver can pay it then and there. Whereas with an official ticket, the driver would have to stand in several long lines to pay it and the fine would be higher. Plus this way, the officer makes some money too."

"Well our system is different. We just write out a check and mail it in with the ticket. It's quick and easy. But it's not cheap. " (Or so I've heard. Ha-ha!)

"Well, here in Russia we have to pay in cash and in person."

Not all Russian traffic cops can be bribed, I've learned. Although I get around on public transport as do most folks. If I did have a car, I imagine that I might do exactly what some other drivers have done when they have neared a cop with baton pointed at them: Pull over immediately, gather documents and wallet and approach the officer with trepidation. Only to discover that he is a life-size, plastic mock-up, a law enforcement decoy. Such an Officer Plastic comes with a two-dimensional police car, a speed gun and the standard black-and-white baton. Although he's plastic, he's no dummy. He manages to bring traffic to a crawl.