# What do the words on El Lissitzky's famous poster say? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021 "2006-03-27T01:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/1 "2006-03-27T01:34:53Z")
[This one](http://www.usc.edu/schools/annenberg/asc/projects/comm544/library/images/706bg.jpg). None of the sources I can find appear very concerned. I have to write a paper on it and it would help to know what the words were. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/2 "2006-03-27T05:21:01Z")
I can get you started … Read from left to right, it says _“Red (something), white (something)”_. If I could type Cyrillic from this Win 98 machine, I could Google the rest ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/3 "2006-03-27T05:32:08Z")
The name of the lithograph is “Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge”. It appears that that is a literal translation of the words, but I get that impression from looking around the 'Net. I don’t speak Russian, so I can’t tell you for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/4 "2006-03-27T06:47:16Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > The name of the lithograph is “Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge”. It appears that that is a literal translation of the words, but I get that impression from looking around the 'Net. I don’t speak Russian, so I can’t tell you for sure. I do, and that’s exactly what it says. клином: wedge (with the) красным: red бей: beat белых: whites ---
**Author:** ![Tevildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/5 "2006-03-27T07:58:11Z")
An idle question - does “бей” have more-or-less the same connotations in Russian that “beat” does in English? In other words, does it mean both “defeat” and “use violence against”? And, is it imperative ("(Let us) Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge!") or indicative (“The Whites will be beaten/are being beaten with (by?) the Red Wedge”)? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/6 "2006-03-27T08:41:48Z")
It’s a continuous imperative form, so it’s like an order to beat the whites with the red wedge. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/7 "2006-03-28T01:37:04Z")
I assume it might refer to the Russian civil war, White Army etc? ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/8 "2006-03-28T03:48:08Z")
> [@Crescend](#): > > I do, and that’s exactly what it says. > > клином: wedge (with the) > красным: red > бей: beat > белых: whites Which translator was this? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/9 "2006-03-28T03:50:26Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > Which translator was this? I beleive **Crescend** is either a native speaker of Russian or is otherwise really good at it. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-the-words-on-el-lissitzkys-famous-poster-say/350021/10 "2006-03-28T05:40:29Z")
Oh, whoops. I interpreted his “I do” as “I plugged it into a translator”. Don’t ask how :smack: Thanks, then. So it’s exactly the same. From my translator results I thought it was “The red wedge beats the white square” which is what I put on my paper. Oh well. We’re not required to know that and I doubt any of my teachers know Russian anyway 😮