Victoria, who took me out to dinner Wednesday, comments, “Actually the right prononciation is even worse : товарищ = tavareeshtch’”, emphasis on the “eeshtch”.
It occurs to me that I am in the position of an aboriginal visiting London. I report what I see, but I’m seeing it all through a lens of profound ignorance and cultural presuppositions. Hence, the ad for caviar-flavored potato chips looked to me like an ad for eating caviar with potato chips.
Dear God, I hope I haven’t told you too many fables and mispronunciations. Young people, if you are reading this, do not cite me as a source in your term papers.
We’re all better off as a result of your rambles! Remember that most of us can’t even dissect 1/2 of the words you report on!
You’ve enriched all of our lives with your journey and your avid reporting of all the things most people take for granted.
Your second posting about tovareeshch is correct. The word is always accented on the second syllable. It would never, ever be accented on the last syllable “eeshch”.
I can’t believe you’re having to go through all of this at the end of your trip! You’re holding up very well, though. We had our passports stolen in 1995 and were looking at 2-3 weeks minimum to get our visa replaced, so it sounds like things have gotten easier since then. Luckily for us, Sergei had his phone book in with the passports and after they were found ditched in Petropavslovsky park by a family out for a walk after a wedding, they were returned to us the next day! Again, proof of that wonderful Russian instinct to help out whenever possible. I’m glad to know things have worked out okay for you and that you’ll be home this week. I’d love to meet for lunch in September and hear about whole trip. Email me.
Schastlivogo puti!
“Young people, if you are reading this, do not cite me as a source in your term papers.” This made me laugh out loud.