Posted on 07/28/2002 11:37:32 AM PDT by Hacksaw
Wrong, wrong, wrong - there is no "J" sound in Latin. Say it with me - "ee-yoo-lee-oos Kaiser"
- general_re, who had his own version of Mrs. McAlpin to deal with ;)
The son of a tsar is a "tsarevich" (öàðåâè÷)...
The daughter of a tsar is "tsarevna" (öàðåâíà).
A prince in Russian is a "Knyaz'" (êíÿçü)...
A princess is a "knyaginya" (êíÿãèíèÿ).
(You'll have to set your encoding in your browser's 'View' pulldown to "Cyrillic-Windows" to be able to view the Russian in Cyrillic Russian text).
I can't recall the source, but it's my understanding that 'Czarina' is the wife of the Czar; and 'Czaritza' is her title as Queen and Empress.
I still know my declentions and conjugations.
She's one of the best teachers I ever had (and I've had well over 27 years of education--lots of teachers)--strictly no nonsense. You did not come to her class unprepared. No chewing gum. Girls could not have their hair in curlers. (I went to a very tacky high school.) Everyone was afraid to peep. And she didn't make friends with the students. I loved Latin, was always prepared, made straight A's, was fascinated every day in class.
The next year I had one of the worst teachers I'ver ever had. She had pets. (I wasn't one. I always had an unfortunate talent for letting teachers know what I thought of them.) There was no discipline. Cheating on tests was the general custom. She was particularly interested in who was "popular" and befriended those who were. I didn't learn anything. I was disappointed. (My sister, who was very "popular" was crazy about her, and vice versa.) The final semester, she gave me "50" in Latin, which wrecked my average, and promptly left town for the summer so that my parents and I could not protest. Even today, I think of her with no respect.
The first year teacher though I always think of with respect and gratitude. She taught me a lot more than Latin.
So did the second year teacher.
For this reason alone, the character of those in public office is very important.
It is true that checks on public officials today, not present in Ivan's time, prevent most overt acts of depravity, but they do not prevent mischief, depravity, and evil, destructive acts.
This is why it is very significant when someone with a psychopathic personality is elected to a powerful public office. Those who are not alarmed either do not understand the significance; choose not to, possibly because they find it advantageous; or are depraved themselves.
Such people have always been a part of the human race and probably always will be. But they should not be allowed to reach positions of power.
None of my Russian dictionaries even has a listing for the "tsarina" spelling, all only list "tsaritsa" - wife of a tsar.
My Webster's dictionary lists both words, but under "tsaritsa" it simply has, as the definition: = tsarina.
There could be some finer point to the definitions of these two words that I don't know about.... it's just that I've been unable to find it in several dictionaries, nor in my encyclopedia.
In any case, Ivan the Terrible was a real "zhopa".
So, it could be "Yakov-zhelezen" or "Ivan-zhelezen", (where the adjective follows the noun it modifies, so it would be more like "Jack of Iron" in Russian as opposed to Iron Jack) or some other variation along that theme.
BTW, Joseph Stalin derived his name "stalin" from the Russian word for steel, so "Stalin" means "of steel" or "like steel" in Russian. (He was a native Georgian by birth, his real name was Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili). Many thought he was a real "zhopa" too.
I love languages. I would love to read Dostoyevsky in Russian. I called the Russian embassy in Washington and asked for the correct pronunciation of Rachmaninov and Karinina; they were very helpful.
Saddam Hussien seems to be a good runner up. He has the qualifications - purges of his staff, murder of his relatives, slaughter of his people not suspected of being loyal, and a huge ego.
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