Thread: Is there a word ...

Is there a polite word one would you use to address an elderly man in Russian. Is babushka for females only?

Say you wnated to address a somewhat elderly man on the street.
Is there a term for "uncle" that one might use, as in other languages?



JK

for an old man you say "dedushka", for a woman "babushka".

Calling the stranger of old age you should not say бабушка or дедушка - some people won't appreciate that you hint at their age.
It is polite to call them You (вы). But both words are still very good.
Извините (простите,), вы не могли бы...
Excuse me, could you lift up your wooden leg from my toe, it's a bit uncomfortable...Thank you, you're very kind!

Calling some strange people babushka(woman) or dedushka(man) you make them feel that you are as kind as their grandson.

Unlikelly you will make a huge mistake calling every stranger мужчина(man) женщина(woman). You can call everyone who looks older than 18-20 years old.

Uncle is дядя in Russian


Please somebody add anything too

Do real russian people use the terms dedushka and babushka?

JK

Sure!
My babushka is 88 years old.

And you may feel free to think me a real Russian.

of course they do, but not to address strangers that they don't know.

I don't think it is ever polite to address people as if they were your relatives. It offends me when people do so with me.
I think the most polite way is to avoid the vocative term altogether and start your speech with "извините, пожалуйста" or something like this.
By the way in Russia there is no universal polite term to address anyone at all. You can call someone "господин" or "госпожа" and that might be ok but that may be an offense for elderly people (since "capitalist" words like "господин" were deprecated in soviet times).
Also no one uses "господин" to address people in the street (it's too official), most people say "женщина", "девушка", "мужчина", "молодой человек" but some aesthetes find these sex-related terms offensive...
When the latter terms are appropriate, you can use "женщина" and "мужчина" to address elderly people as well (and most people do so).

Originally Posted by pisces

I don't think it is ever polite to address people as if they were your relatives. It offends me when people do so with me.
I think the most polite way is to avoid the vocative term altogether and start your speech with "извините, пожалуйста" or something like this.

I ask forgive me for my question, but why didn't you just quote me?

Thanks Pisces,

Could someone spell out these terms phonetically in English.

"извините"
"пожалуйста"

"господин"
"госпожа"

And these words too:

Phonetically in english!



"женщина", "девушка", "мужчина", "молодой человек"

How rude!
You never said thanks to Remyisme nor me!

And please don't forget to take off your hat, make a deep bow and kiss the edges of her gloves, calling some strange woman госпожа.
Calling a strange man господин, be shure to stay aside to not meet his arm.

It's odd to use such words in usual life.

Or do you call all strangers Master and Mistress?

Leof, Remyisme,

Please excuse my rudeness. I am very thankful for your efforts to educate us all.

You have helped me much more than you know. I am sure others on this board would say the same.



JK

So what you're saying is: "господин" & "госпожа" are the eqivalent of "sir" & "ma'am" ?

Originally Posted by capecoddah

So what you're saying is: "господин" & "госпожа" are the eqivalent of "sir" & "ma'am" ?

В США говорят "Мистер Смит", а в России "Господин Смит".

Мистер - тоже можно говорить, но это редко или в ироническом смысле

yes capecoddah they are! - we use them on summits of noblemen, in the waiting room of ministers, lawyers use it all the time trying to hurt their opponents - they're dry polite and formal words

And JK you are always welcome to ask!

извините - isvinite
пожалуйста - pazhalusta
господин - gaspadin
госпожа - gaspazha
женщина - zhenshina
девушка - devushka
мужчина - mushshina
молодой человек - maladoy chelavek

Originally Posted by Dimitri

Originally Posted by capecoddah

So what you're saying is: "господин" & "госпожа" are the eqivalent of "sir" & "ma'am" ?

В США говорят "Мистер Смит", а в России "Господин Смит".

Мистер - тоже можно говорить, но это редко или в ироническом смысле

Господин sounds really really stupid when adressing a stranger. Please, don't do it.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Originally Posted by Dimitri

Originally Posted by capecoddah

So what you're saying is: "господин" & "госпожа" are the eqivalent of "sir" & "ma'am" ?

В США говорят "Мистер Смит", а в России "Господин Смит".

Мистер - тоже можно говорить, но это редко или в ироническом смысле

Господин sounds really really stupid when adressing a stranger. Please, don't do it.

По телевизору то говорят? С чего ты взял, что это тупо?
По отношению к иностранцам говорят и мистер может-быть, но ГОСПОДИН точно говорят.
Господин Шрёдер, например - что не слышал никогда?

Причем не только господин Шредер об этом говорил, об этом говорила и госпожа Меркель...

Вы наверняка знаете, что канцлер ФРГ господин Шрёдер и президент РФ господин Путин большие друзья

Таким образом, господин Шредер превращался в бесперебойный генератор идей, улавливаемых по ходу жизни...

На этот раз кроме самолетов и поездов господин Берлускони имел в виду еще осуществляемый Finmeccanica проект TETRA – создание...

Последним прилетел из Турина (как и сам господин Берлускони, участвовавший в церемонии открытия Олимпийских игр) глава компании...

В своем желании добиться отсрочки господин Берлускони даже пошел на риск конфронтации с президентом страны Карло Адзелио...

Вчера господин Смит сообщил журналистам о том, что в Казань он приехал...

Вчера господин Смит в приватной беседе с нашей уважаемой Иллектрикс порекомендовал всем внимательнее...

уже в понедельник утром господин Смит встречался с журналистами в Национальном институте прессы.