# "Russians have no word for freedom" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592 "2009-10-29T12:35:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/1 "2009-10-29T12:35:57Z")
You hear about it a lot, but did Ronald Reagan ever actually say this? Which speech was it in? Is there a transcript online? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/2 "2009-10-29T15:28:52Z")
The best I could find using Google, as I’m sure you could too: > **[The Reagan Reversal](https://books.google.com/books?id=SJnWWTvPYmMC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=reagan%2B%22no%2Bword%2Bin%2Brussian%2Bfor%2Bfreedom%22&source=bl&ots=332f2p4uaP&sig=ajA0h6eO8LsxRPVzMjyFIBCjf50&hl=en&ei=ILHpSoC9GtLilAeN8YiABQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=reagan%20%22no%20word%20in%20russian%20for%20freedom%22&f=false)** > > It is often assumed that Ronald Reagan's administration was reactive in bringing about the end of the cold war, that it was Mikhail Gorbachev's "new thinking" and congenial personality that led the administration to abandon its hard-line approach... You might look around here: [http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/Renka/Modern\_Presidents/reagan\_speeches.htm](http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/Renka/Modern_Presidents/reagan_speeches.htm) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/3 "2009-10-29T15:33:31Z")
The word ‘hoax’ does not appear in any dictionary. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/4 "2009-10-29T15:42:04Z")
Yeah, but I haven’t found any references to it being a load of crap, either. It just seems to be accepted with no actual evidence. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/5 "2009-10-29T18:35:38Z")
> [@glee](#): > > The word ‘hoax’ does not appear in any dictionary. 😉 Strange, but hoax is in my dictionary. American Heritage. hoax n. 1. An act intended to deceive or trick. 2. Something that has been established or accepted by fraudulent means. --hoax tr.v. hoaxed, hoax·ing, hoax·es. To deceive or cheat by using a hoax. [Perhaps alteration of hocus.] --hoax“er n. I didn’t see your winking smiley. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/6 "2009-10-29T18:39:02Z")
Of course the word ‘hoax’ is in the dictionary. The word ‘gullible’, however, isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/7 "2009-10-29T19:20:55Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Of course the word ‘hoax’ is in the dictionary. The word ‘gullible’, however, isn’t. Why is ‘long’ a short word, yet ‘abbreviated’ isn’t? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/8 "2009-10-29T19:30:49Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > You hear about it a lot, but did Ronald Reagan ever actually say this? Which speech was it in? Is there a transcript online? I have never heard this before. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/9 "2009-10-29T19:47:09Z")
[This says from a BBC interview from Oct. 1985](http://books.google.com/books?id=6YJjY9qBv9kC&pg=PA287&lpg=PA287&dq=russian+word+for+freedom&source=bl&ots=zi-F_FznJ9&sig=WcFLZESaoqohNOTQ8vFgfMmX3DI&hl=en&ei=YPDpSqipN9PQlAft4MD_BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CBgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=russian%20word%20for%20freedom&f=false), but again, there’s no transcript. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/10 "2009-10-29T20:15:15Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Why is ‘long’ a short word, yet ‘abbreviated’ isn’t? 😕 And whose cruel joke was it to put an “s” in the word “lisp”? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/11 "2009-10-29T20:26:28Z")
And why doesn’t _onomatopoeia_ sound like anything? ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/12 "2009-10-29T20:49:43Z")
'Course it does! It sounds like an incontinent Italian who lost the key to his front door. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/13 "2009-10-29T21:44:28Z")
Apparently Bush did say that the French have no word for entrepreneur. If he did, he was correct. Obviously it is a French word but just means contractor. I regularly see vans with “entrepreneur electrique” or similar things on them, but it just means contractor, nothing special. The French have borrowed the word–if it is a word–“entrepreneurship” with essentially the same meaning as in English. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/14 "2009-10-29T22:06:53Z")
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. So find out how to say “Nothing left to lose” and then you know how to say “freedom” in Russian. Sincerely, Me and Bobby McGee ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/15 "2009-10-30T00:18:50Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Apparently Bush did say that the French have no word for entrepreneur. If he did, he was correct. Obviously it is a French word but just means contractor. I regularly see vans with “entrepreneur electrique” or similar things on them, but it just means contractor, nothing special. The French have borrowed the word–if it is a word–“entrepreneurship” with essentially the same meaning as in English. [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/quotes/bush.asp)says he didn’t say it. ---
**Author:** ![Mentor\_and\_Liar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mentor\_and\_Liar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mentor_and_Liar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/16 "2009-10-30T00:44:34Z")
свобода ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/17 "2009-10-30T06:31:28Z")
> [@Mentor\_and\_Liar](#): > > свобода So which are you being in this case? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/18 "2009-10-30T09:43:06Z")
I used Google and clicked Translate This Page, and [it does](http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%25D0%25A1%25D0%25B2%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B1%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B4%25D0%25B0&ei=cbTqSquJFoyGswOpuLjqCA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBUQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%25D1%2581%25D0%25B2%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B1%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B4%25D0%25B0%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rlz%3D1T4SUNA_enUS310US310)seem to mean freedom ( mouse over the word Freedom ). ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/19 "2009-10-30T11:36:01Z")
But is that the word they used in voice-over in the Russian release of _Braveheart_, at the very end? You know the scene I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Timchik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Timchik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timchik)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592/20 "2009-10-30T12:53:19Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > But is that the word they used in voice-over in the Russian release of _Braveheart_, at the very end? You know the scene I mean. Apparently, [it is](http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D1%81%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B4%D1%86%D0%B5): [QUOTE=Russian Wikipedia] Уоллес, собрав последние силы, выкрикивает «Свобода!». [/QUOTE] _Translation_: Wallace, gathering his remaining strength, cries “Svoboda!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-have-no-word-for-freedom/515592.md?page=2)