# Russian: C II P Y T **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-c-ii-p-y-t/412620 "2007-07-21T02:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [July 21, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-c-ii-p-y-t/412620/1 "2007-07-21T02:40:59Z")
Using Roman letters to sumulate Cyriliic, C II P Y T appears to spell (phonetically) STRUT. It appears on the bow of a Russian submarine in the 1966 comedy _The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!_ Does STRUT mean anything in Russian? ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-c-ii-p-y-t/412620/2 "2007-07-21T02:58:58Z")
Are you sure that you’re reading it right, **Johnny**? According to the movie’s [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Russians_Are_Coming%2C_the_Russians_Are_Coming), it’s **Спрут** : > [@](#): > > The movie tells the Cold War story of the comedic chaos which ensues when the Soviet submarine, Спрут (Sprut, Octopus), accidentally runs aground near a small New England town. So, it’s called **Octopus** in Russian. ETA: apparently it’s [“Squid”](http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=15090), not “Octopus”. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-c-ii-p-y-t/412620/3 "2007-07-21T03:02:56Z")
[QUOTE=Antonius Block] Are you sure that you’re reading it right, **Johnny**? According to the movie’s [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Russians_Are_Coming%2C_the_Russians_Are_Coming), it’s **???** :So, it’s called **Octopus** in Russian. [/QUOTE] You’re right. I mis-read. Thanks for the answer. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-c-ii-p-y-t/412620/4 "2007-07-21T06:22:49Z")
[QUOTE=Antonius Block] ETA: apparently it’s [“Squid”](http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=15090), not “Octopus”. [/QUOTE] “Спрут” means octopus, but that’s a slightly archaic word. “Осьминог” is the preferred nomenclature. The word for squid is “Кальмар” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-c-ii-p-y-t/412620/5 "2007-07-21T21:30:16Z")
[QUOTE=groman] The word for squid is “Кальмар” [/QUOTE] Do you know if that came into Russian from Italian or Greek? I assume it must’ve been one of those two languages. Greek = καλαμάρι. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-c-ii-p-y-t/412620/6 "2007-07-21T21:50:54Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Do you know if that came into Russian from Italian or Greek? I assume it must’ve been one of those two languages. Greek = καλαμάρι. [/QUOTE] Could be either, but I’m leaning towards Greek. Totally WAG: In Italian “calamari” is plural, with the singular “calamaro”. In Russian “squid” is a masculine noun, but if it was originally borrowed as “calamaro” the ending would force it to be neuter. The plural form would have to be borrowed. In Greek “καλαμάρι” is singular. If taken as a Russian word it phonetically sounds like a plural, so if a singular form is forced upon it it becomes almost identical to what it is today with the right noun gender. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-c-ii-p-y-t/412620/7 "2007-07-21T22:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Do you know if that came into Russian from Italian or Greek? I assume it must’ve been one of those two languages. [/QUOTE] Perhaps I’m missing something, but why would it have to be directly from Italian or Greek only? Plenty of European languages have the word “cal/kal” + “mar” (with intermediate or terminal vowels added in some cases). In addition to the ones already mentioned, there are the following in which the noun is masculine and has no terminal vowel:[ul] [li]French: _calmar_ / _calamar_[/li][li]Spanish: _calamar_[/li][li]German: _Kalmar_[/li][/ul]If [Take Our Word for It](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue098.html) is to be believed, the original Greek _kalamos_ (=“reed”) became Latin _calamus_ (=“pen”) which became late Latin _calamarium_ (=“ink horn” or “pen case”), whence the usage for the tentacled beastie, and other languages took it from there. Doesn’t this mean that Russian could just have easily got the word from the French or German (or – IMHO less likely – Spanish)? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-c-ii-p-y-t/412620/8 "2007-07-21T22:44:21Z")
[QUOTE=Antonius Block] Perhaps I’m missing something, but why would it have to be directly from Italian or Greek only? Plenty of European languages have the word “cal/kal” + “mar” (with intermediate or terminal vowels added in some cases). In addition to the ones already mentioned, there are the following in which the noun is masculine and has no terminal vowel:[ul] [li]French: _calmar_ / _calamar_[/li][li]Spanish: _calamar_[/li][li]German: _Kalmar_[/li][/ul]If [Take Our Word for It](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue098.html) is to be believed, the original Greek _kalamos_ (=“reed”) became Latin _calamus_ (=“pen”) which became late Latin _calamarium_ (=“ink horn” or “pen case”), whence the usage for the tentacled beastie, and other languages took it from there. Doesn’t this mean that Russian could just have easily got the word from the French or German (or – IMHO less likely – Spanish)? [/QUOTE] True. I was thinking it either came in thru a culinary source (Italian) or because of the cultural ties between Greece and Russia (both Orthodox, Russian alphabet based on Greek alphabet). But your point is well taken.