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XVII. CONVERSATION

 

A favourite subject of conversation is politics. Every Russian, sane or otherwise, will tell you how bad things are politically and what he would do if he were President. There isn’t anyone who doesn’t have an original plan for saving from incompetent rulers or a detailed plan for its economic development.

Unlike the English, Russians do not have the skill of talking about the weather all the way through a transatlantic cruise and back. They will hold forth about a great many things – politics, domestic affairs, the health of the younger daughter of their second cousin or the concept of the Holy Trinity. However, there are a few subjects which Russians will tend to avoid and on which it is next to impossible to try to draw them out. They are very shy about sex matters, even in the doctor’s consulting room, not to mention in front of friends or children or their parents. But with the advent of pornography and even (Oh,God!) sex shops, the attitude is becoming more relaxed.

One may now hear such formerly unmentionable words as condom, coitus or group sex. Homosexual relations are still considered disgusting and repulsive but are no longer punishable. Sex education is a complete taboo. Russians and above all educators still believe that parents find their babies in the cabbage patch or buy them in elite shops for foreign currency.

Most Russians swear words are based on sex. Russians are proud that their curses are well known to sailors of every nation who rarely know what they are saying; if they did, they might think twice before employing such words. Fortunately, Russians themselves seldom think about what they are saying.

Among the most used swear words are mat (pronounced mut) , i.e. blyadj (whore), sukin syn (son of a bitch). A recent addition to the list of swear words is kozyol (billy-goat).

 

 


Date: 2015-04-20; view: 1385


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