Quote Originally Posted by Demonic_Duck View Post
Well now I'm confused... I'm pretty sure I've seen хобби used a few times... maybe it depends on age/geographical location...
It's quite ok to use this word. It was used even in the time of USSR, but some, to some extent, "simple" people might not understand its meaning then, and there's a brilliant joke about that.

A foreign delegation came to a soviet factory. The members were walking around when they came across a common worker. They wanted to ask him a few questions, so they started with asking what his salary was. "Well", says the worker, "I get paid about 100 roubles...", but then he sees the commie party worker making scary eyes, and adds "... a week!". The delegation is satisfied, then they ask him what his living conditions are. "Well", he says, "I got one room in my flat...", and then he turns round to see the commie party worker, and adds "... looking to the East, one room looking to the West, one room looking to the North, and another one looking to the South." The delegation is satisfied again. Then they ask, "So, what's your hobby?" "30 cm", replies the worker and then sees that the commie party worker's turned all red. "In diameter!", he corrects.