Public houses for the proletarians
On a trip to the old USSR we were allocated an interpreter who spoke very correct English but translated word by word. When he described the achievements of communist builders, he was greeted with gales of laughter. He looked rather crestfallen until a kindly man explained that, yes, publichnyj means 'public' and dom means 'house', but publichnyj dom does not really translate into English where it turns into 'pub'. In Russian it means 'council house', of which Stalin built several millions, we'd been told!
Editor's note: Not quite! Publichnyj dom is indeed a very public house - it's a brothel! If Stalin ever got any of those built, is unkown ...
Sent by: Graham
Comments
Well, many years ago my Russian teacher explained to me that the word publichnyj dom came from the French maison publique which of course is a brothel.
I was brought up in a pub during my childhood years, so when asked in my French class to describe my residence, I innocently stated that J'habite dans une maison publique thinking that Public House would be literally translated. My French teacher, a nun, politely explained that I should use un bar instead. I had said that I lived in a brothel!
Flag this comment