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One of the few bright spots in Chris Weitz’s screenplay for the Golden Compass were the lines spoken by the villainous Tatars. Just before the final battle begins, Lyra walks up to the line of armed men with their daemon wolves and spits. The ringleader answers by saying to another man, “Дай волчонку полакомиться.” “Set your wolf on that child,” go the subtitles and that’s probably what Weitz wrote for someone to translate. The actual Russian: “Treat your cub to a snack.”…
When I worked in business, I had a client who picked a new name after a merger. The name meant something rather obscene in Portuguese, but, despite relying on Brazilian revenues, the company had already invested too much money in the new brand name by the time the snafu was discovered to turn back. Luckily, […]
23D. Seven letters. Tight-bodiced dresses
“Dirndls,” Mrs. Cohen and Shortz? Really?
One of the most common ways to tease an Eastern European in America is to mention the number of consonants languages like Polish and Ukrainian string in a row. “How do you pronounce those names, anyway?” I’ll tell you how: say “dirndls” twenty times, then try […]
Chimpanzees living in the West African savannah have been observed fashioning what gives every indication of being pencil-like tools from short, thin sticks and then using them in a manner suggesting to researchers that the chimps are in the early stages of acquiring the skill of writing — the first routine production of writing […]
I was looking up the construction of izbas [pdf with pictures], the rustic Russian loghouses, and came across this joke. Pardon the Russianness.
Русские умельцы 11 века могли построить избу, имея при себе только топор, или построить корабль без единого гвоздя. Древние традиции унаследовал автозавод Москвич.
Or, in English:
The Russian master craftsmen of the XI century could […]
From Inkygirl, a hilarious Valentine (comic) for writers. I might pass this around to my novella classmates. Or better yet, my intro class students tomorrow.
I am writing a novel about the Ukrainian famine. Its current working title is “Accidental Saint,” though I’m not sure if that’s going to stick.
As you might imagine, that statement is a conversation killer.
“So, what are you working on?”
“A novel about the man-made Ukrainian famine.”
“Ah.”
It only gets better when I say: “It’s a comedy.” Which […]