# I want to learn Russian

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-russian/85038>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 2, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-russian/85038 "2001-10-02T20:19:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Mersavets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@Mersavets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mersavets)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-russian/85038/41 "2001-10-08T14:06:54Z")

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Pravilniy!:D

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-russian/85038/42 "2001-10-10T16:34:43Z")

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I know there is a large Russian community in Los Angeles. Where is it?

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**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-russian/85038/43 "2001-10-10T17:06:33Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ElvisL1ves \*  
> **You mentioned looking up “govno” - if you meant “gavno”, I could tell another story.**

It’s spelled _govno_ and pronounced _gavno_. The first ‘o’ is unstressed, thereby giving the pronunciation of ‘a’ - but not as sharp as a stressed ‘a’ as in _akt_ or the first ‘a’ in _sobaka_.

> [@](#):
>
> **Seems Stalin had a Russian speech impediment, being a Georgian, and his hard G and his R sounded alike.**

'Tweren’t Stalin, but Lenin. His pronunciation was less a speech defect than an affectation - he pronounced ‘r’ more in the Parisian style, which is kind of like a soft gargle at the back of the throat - but in all the _anekdoty_ I’ve read it’s transliterated as a hard ‘g’.

Here’s another ‘soft sign’ joke:

_Chto prinyos Khrushchev v nauchnyj kommunizm?  
Myagkii znak posle ‘z’._

“What did Khrushchev contribute to scientific communism?  
A soft sign after the ‘z’.”

Basically making fun both of his Ukrainian pronunciation and his lack of theoretical insight. Loads o’ yux there.

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