Thread: question

Two words:

Комплекс меншовартості.

Ask your Ukrainian friends what it means, and especially ask the Ukrainians who say they are Russian )

Jiminy Crickets! I leave for a few hours and you all can’t play nice in the sand box and go WAY off topic here. I mean, we were off poor Tamerlane’s main question to begin with when I joined the thread but now we're on WMDs!!!

Gentlemen, and I believe all of you are men with the exception of me (and gRomoZeka who ducked out after her couple of responses), what happened here??

Originally Posted by Tamerlane

i am american (Russian american) and my geography skills are almost perfect, if you gave me an unmarked map, i could name the MAJORITY of countries in the world, and even alot of regions to boot. i am somewhat of a savant at geography, and it really irks me when people are ignorant of other cultures and geography.

Tamerlane, firstly, I am extremely impressed with your geography skills. Honestly, no joke. Today, my 7th grader had a test on Latin America and needed to know all the countries AND capitals for both Central and South America along with Principals of Geography, Mesoamerica and Modifications made by the Aztecs AND the Incas… so she could have used your help with her studies!

However, secondly my dear, you do need to remember a few small little things… “a lot “ is spelled with two words and “I” and America/American are always capitalized.

Originally Posted by randem

There are terms for this condition. Some call it isolationism. I prefer to think of it as willful ignorance.

"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise” Thomas Gray, from his 1742 Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College.

There are a number of people out there who really don’t know, what they don’t know.

randem, I am not certain your age or if you are a parent. As I became older I realized a number of my shortcomings. Some of them I have had the time, money, desire and ability to change. Others, I have not for whatever reasons. However, knowing these shortcomings and lacking in my education, I can make an informed decision about my children’s education and hopefully they will learn much earlier the things that I did not or have yet to still learn. Both of my daughters who are only in middle school, are already fluent in both English and Spanish, while their “willfully ignorant” mother, has trouble with her native English at times.

My not knowing squat about Russia, is what brought me to MR. I do not know the country, culture, or language (and chances of me learning it are laughable). Yet, here I am asking sometimes the most ridiculous of questions because, as Crocodile so articulately stated, “I personally like to learn something just for the sake of it, just because it's "interesting."

Originally Posted by randem

"OH NOES!

Oh, and randem, I thank you... as you did teach me something new today!

Originally Posted by Crocodile

The recent example of the war between Georgia and Russia is a good example. Neither Georgia nor Russia bombed each others' civilians.

Crocodile, that was Georgia the COUNTRY you were talking about.... right???

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Originally Posted by Crocodile

The recent example of the war between Georgia and Russia is a good example. Neither Georgia nor Russia bombed each others' civilians.

Crocodile, that was Georgia the COUNTRY you were talking about.... right???

Pretty much.

Originally Posted by Tamerlane

i am american (Russian american) and my geography skills are almost perfect, if you gave me an unmarked map, i could name the MAJORITY of countries in the world, and even alot of regions to boot. i am somewhat of a savant at geography, and it really irks me when people are ignorant of other cultures and geography.

Tamerlane, firstly, I am extremely impressed with your geography skills. Honestly, no joke. Today, my 7th grader had a test on Latin America and needed to know all the countries AND capitals for both Central and South America along with Principals of Geography, Mesoamerica and Modifications made by the Aztecs AND the Incas… so she could have used your help with her studies! [/quote]

Thank you, but you should know, my knowledge of geography doesnt come from an innate talent for it, the reason I am so good at geography is because I played many online map games. I just played them until I knew all or most of the geography by heart. Here is an excellent website that you can use for your students, they will have a lot of fun playing the games (they are like puzzles basicly) and they will learn a lot.

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/map-puzzles.htm

Originally Posted by Crocodile

So, here's my brief Russian-English dictionary:

too stupid = wouldn't always know

Americans don't know anything about ... = Not all Americans are experts in ...

We know a lot about America, but Americans don't know anything about the other countries. = People in general tend to only focus on their immediate needs and therefore are inclined to free their minds of the facts which aren't really relevant at the moment. Americans seem to be very practical that way.

And so forth...

That's great. Very true.

I think I will never master that second level of American English. It always puzzles me.

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by Crocodile

So, here's my brief Russian-English dictionary: ...

That's great. Very true.

I think I will never master that second level of American English. It always puzzles me.

Wow! I think I need to frame the day on which Оля actually agreed with me once! Just kidding ...

To tell the truth, Оля, I can gladly share a way of mastering that mysterious way of expressing yourself. Believe me, I was in the same boat for some time. So, here's the secret: try to memorize the following expressions and form your sentences that way. The approach is very simple. You will really do great!

Simple expressions:

всегда => sometimes
все => some people
никто => not everyone
никогда => not always

More complex expressions:

бомж => residentially flexible individual
неправильный ответ => alternative answer
сумашедший => reality challenged
старик => chronologically gifted

Видишь? Таким образом ты всегда можешь сказать всё тоже самое, но без негатива и обобщений. Получится AmE.

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Таким образом ты всегда можешь сказать всё тоже самое, но без негатива и обобщений.

Дело в том, что я не вижу негатива там, где его видят американцы. Мне как-то проще назвать черное черным, а белое белым, а не подстраиваться под чью-то sensitivity и комплексы...

Originally Posted by Crocodile

More complex expressions:

бомж => residentially flexible individual
неправильный ответ => alternative answer
сумашедший => reality challenged
старик => chronologically gifted

I think that the euphemisms like that are more insulting to the person's intelligence than the actual meaning of the "offending" expressions.
Some people are deaf, some people are short, and some people are old. It's not bad, or wrong, or weird, it's a natural order of things. So I fail to understand how a simple statement of the fact (without any negativity or ill will) can hurt a sane person's feelings.
Oh, I know that some are offended, but that's only because modern (western?) culture encourages people to get offended by things that are not worth the second thought.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Oh, I know that some are offended, but that's only because modern (western?) culture encourages people to get offended by things that are not worth the second thought.

Those were actually jokes. http://www.funny2.com/dictionary.htm
Just extremely exaggerated examples, just easy to remember, IMHO.

More specifically, I think calling an old lady "Эй, старуха!" in Russian is also somewhat offending to the lady. There are few more polite ways to express the same idea even though the age of the lady would not change. I also find it extremely funny when the middle-aged women are addressed in Russian as "Девушки!"

wouldn't always know
[video:1r60n9wn]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaTMXt4EV54[/video:1r60n9wn]