Russian Quizzo/Trivia Round

[Janet Ashton]

And of course only educated Italians spoke "Italian" before WW2, the masses spoke very divergent regional dialects that even may be classified as distinct languages (Sicilian, Piedmontese, Venetian, Lombard, Sardinian etc.)

This is the irony of Italy's participation in World War One: fighting to "redeem" lands which weren't Italian, using an Army which was in a sense pretty unredeemed itself: they should have dedicated their efforts to promoting literacy and alleviating poverty in the country they already had, which was often unaware that it was even one country.  The Entente powers made much noise about the fact that the Austro-Hungarian imperial Army spoke a variety of mutually incomprehensible languages, while ignoring the fact that the armies of several of the other "modern, national" states had just as many difficulties with understanding each other.

I believe the House of Savoy originally spoke French at home. Certainly, the ardent Italian nationalist the Duchess of Aosta (Helen d'Orleans) still did in 1914.

It also occurred to me after I posted the question about the mix of Germanic, Romantic, Slavic languages, Albanian and probably Greek, that the answer could also be the Karageorgevic dynasty, certainly after 1918 - throwing in Hungarian and Turkish as well. 

[Превед]

4. NAOTMAA. Vederlax Fjärd (in Swedish) = Virolahti = Bay of Štandart (Alexander III favoured Högsåra in Åbolands Skärgård and of course Langinkoski.)

Elementary, my dear Watson: How come I didn't see that before the Russian Wikipedia told me:
Название в переводе с финского означает «Эстонский залив».

Estonia is Viro in Finnish, thus Virolahti = Estonian Bay. Evidence of ancient contacts across the Gulf of Finland.
(In Estonian it is, in the form Virumaa, the regional name of northeastern Estonia, the part directly southwest of Virolahti.)

[Превед]

A Quiz for those who know their Fantasy and Sci-Fi literature better than Russian:

Which famous fantasy and sci-fi sagas have these titles in Russian?
Googling is for cheaters!

1. Песнь Льда и Огня - Pesn Lda i Ognya
2. Звёздные войны - Zvyozdnye voyny
3. Лев, колдунья и волшебный шкаф - Lev, koldunya i bolshebnyy shkaf
4. Игра престолов - Igra prestolov
5. Путеводитель автостопщика по галактике - Putevoditel avtostopshchka po galaktike
6. Голодные игры - Golodnye igry
7. Гарри Поттер - too easy if transliterated :-)
8. Звёздный путь - Zvyozdnyy put
9. Властелин колец - Vlastelin kolets
10. Алиса в Стране чудес - Alisa v Strane chudes

[Превед]

A Quiz for those who know their Fantasy and Sci-Fi literature better than Russian:

Wow, this was disappointing!

Correct answers:

1. Песнь Льда и Огня - Pesn Lda i Ognya = A Song of Ice and Fire
2. Звёздные войны - Zvyozdnye voyny = Star Wars
3. Лев, колдунья и волшебный шкаф - Lev, koldunya i bolshebnyy shkaf = The Lion, the Witch and the (Magic) Wardrobe
4. Игра престолов - Igra prestolov = Game of Thrones
5. Путеводитель автостопщика по галактике - Putevoditel avtostopshchka po galaktike = Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
6. Голодные игры - Golodnye igry = Hunger Games
7. Гарри Поттер - too easy if transliterated :-) = Harry Potter
8. Звёздный путь - Zvyozdnyy put = Star Trek
9. Властелин колец - Vlastelin kolets = Lord of the Rings
10. Алиса в Стране чудес - Alisa v Strane chudes = Alice in Wonderland

[edubs31]

A Quiz for those who know their Fantasy and Sci-Fi literature better than Russian:

Wow, this was disappointing!

Correct answers:

1. Песнь Льда и Огня - Pesn Lda i Ognya = A Song of Ice and Fire
2. Звёздные войны - Zvyozdnye voyny = Star Wars
3. Лев, колдунья и волшебный шкаф - Lev, koldunya i bolshebnyy shkaf = The Lion, the Witch and the (Magic) Wardrobe
4. Игра престолов - Igra prestolov = Game of Thrones
5. Путеводитель автостопщика по галактике - Putevoditel avtostopshchka po galaktike = Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
6. Голодные игры - Golodnye igry = Hunger Games
7. Гарри Поттер - too easy if transliterated :-) = Harry Potter
8. Звёздный путь - Zvyozdnyy put = Star Trek
9. Властелин колец - Vlastelin kolets = Lord of the Rings
10. Алиса в Стране чудес - Alisa v Strane chudes = Alice in Wonderland

Tim would have been your guy here but to the best of my knowledge he doesn't speak/read Russia.

[Превед]

Tim would have been your guy here but to the best of my knowledge he doesn't speak/read Russia.

It was not intended for people who speak and read Russian. Many of these words you pick up learning about the Romanovs.

[edubs31]

Tim would have been your guy here but to the best of my knowledge he doesn't speak/read Russia.

It was not intended for people who speak and read Russian. Many of these words you pick up learning about the Romanovs.

Most certainly...

I learn all about "Star Wars", "Star Trek" and "Lord of the Rings" from my Romanov studies. Who doesn't???

[Превед]

I learn all about "Star Wars", "Star Trek" and "Lord of the Rings" from my Romanov studies. Who doesn't???

The vocabularies of monarchy and fantasy have a lot in common. (The Romanovs were sitting on their престолы, wearing their орденские звезду, ruling their страна льда.:-)

[Rodney_G.]

Tim would have been your guy here but to the best of my knowledge he doesn't speak/read Russia.

It was not intended for people who speak and read Russian. Many of these words you pick up learning about the Romanovs.

I had more difficulty with the items of sci-fi and fantasy than with the Russian clues.Does that make me more or less a nerd? Don't answer that.Still, a fun reverse(?) challenge.

[Превед]

Current affairs quiz question:

Which person in the news these days has grandparents born in the former territory of a mediatized dynasty with a claim to the Russian throne?

[Превед]

Which person in the news these days has grandparents born in the former territory of a mediatized dynasty with a claim to the Russian throne?

No-one who managed to guess it's US presidential candidate Donald Trump, whose paternal grandparents were born in Kallstadt, today in the German federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz, untill the Napoleonic Wars in the County of Leiningen. The head of the mediatized house of Leinigen, Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen, has a claim to the Russian throne through his mother, Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia, if you view her brother Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia's marriage as unequal and his daughter Maria Vladimirovna thus not as a dynast.

[Превед]

Russian Christmas Geography Quiz:

My Norwegian local paper has a 43 questions Christmas current affairs / geography quiz that requires quite a bit of research (fun family activity for the holidays). It takes you on a tour of the world and I challenge you to crack the two questions relating to places in the Russian Empire. (I know the answers :-):

1. In this annihalated village in a country where every fourth inhabitant was killed during WW2 and where the president this autumn was re-elected with a huge majority, lies a national war memorial. A massacre of a type described by a recent prize winner with a new type of literature took place here. In another country a very famous massacre with probably more than 20.000 victims took place near a village with almost the exact same name (just remove one letter) as the place we are looking for.

2. Activists in the mountains have this year tried to change this town's name in order to immortalize a man who has "done a lot for the country". The town lies barely 40 km from the regional capital, which due to samples taken here, has given its name to a period covering about 50 million years of Earth's history. The regional capital's name is also a popular Norwegian short form of a period of uncertain length (and in English the short form of a hairstyling technique).

[Rodney_G.]

I really like this challenge. Not too easy, but nicely  demanding.
Is it kosher to provide partial answers ? or solutions to the clues, but not the actual answer? Or to discuss the same in print? What the hell, I'm going to , while hoping not to spoil the fun.
1.   Babi Yar in Ukraine  is likely the answer  here,though I don't know if it was a village as well as a ravine. Alternatively, it could be the place mentioned in the last sentence clue "In another country..." if it's not the real answer.

2. In reverse order, the regional capital is Perm, hence Permian Period. I don't know the town's name, or whether it has some relation to V.V.Putin, who in the eyes of many  Russians, "has done a lot for the country". The  tense there ,"has done" , suggests someone alive and active, which narrows the choices considerably. But Putinograd? Heaven forfend!

To the extent that I may be wrong above,would it be possible to give further hints,( unless one knows the right answers,of course)?

[Превед]

Is it kosher to provide partial answers ? or solutions to the clues, but not the actual answer? Or to discuss the same in print? What the hell, I'm going to , while hoping not to spoil the fun.

Sure, no problem.

1.   Babi Yar in Ukraine  is likely the answer  here,though I don't know if it was a village as well as a ravine. Alternatively, it could be the place mentioned in the last sentence clue "In another country..." if it's not the real answer.

Wrong track, wrong country.

2. In reverse order, the regional capital is Perm, hence Permian Period. I don't know the town's name, or whether it has some relation to V.V.Putin, who in the eyes of many  Russians, "has done a lot for the country". The  tense there ,"has done" , suggests someone alive and active, which narrows the choices considerably. But Putinograd? Heaven forfend!

You're on the right track.

[Rodney_G.]

As we say in American slang, "Yes folks!" I knew I could come up with the answer to this sucker. And with only a slight confirmation of instincts/ aid via Google. There's something to be said for following one's first impulse.
1. This would be Khatyn in Belarus, the obvious answer after a little thought about the Katyn Forest massacre. I had never heard of Khatyn, but then , sadly, there were many similar atrocities during the war.

2. Theoretically, this could be any town within 25 miles of Perm, some of whose residents are enthused enough about some man to want to rename the town for him. The man in question may  not even have
 any personal links to this town, so it's  a pretty vast field of candidates. I would consider Garry Kasparov, but I don't know if its safe to openly boost him in Russia today.
For some reason I thought it might be someone non-political, like maybe Valery Brumel. Or Tamara  or Irina Press, who it could be argued fell into the man category.
Other than this line of thought, I'd need another hint or two.