Thread: washer and dryer

Originally Posted by Indra

To call one's native grandmother, say, "Baba Masha"or "baba Anya" is very typical to small children in Russia, 'baba' here means 'babushka', and it's okay.

Even not necessarily his native granny – any old woman who is a neighbor or acquaintance (if referring to her that way is accepted in the family), like "Вовочка, сходи в булочную и купи хлеба бабе Люде."

Wasn't babushka originally just an affectionate diminutive form of baba anyway?

Ili net?

Myself and all my cousins have always called our grandmother baba. She even calls herself baba when talking to children. I also know many Ukrainian Canadians that do the same, although she is Russian.
I didn't know it was meant to be offensive, I apologize if I was rude.

I also looked up the word in the dictionary and it says "peasent woman"