Many well-known people from various countries have acknowledged that Russia and the Russians have unique features that can be difficult to explain. For example, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said that “Россия – это головоломка, завернутая в тайнувнутри загадки” (Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma). A part of this mystery is […]

For those of us who have had the singular pleasure of being seated behind a hefty bowl of харчо (kharcho), it is hard to describe exactly how delicious this Georgian delicacy really is. It is also, interestingly enough, hard to describe what it actually is, as there is rather heated disagreement about several of the […]

The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year, and to the early Egyptians, who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls. It is believed that first Christmas card was created by an English artist named “Dobson” in 1794. The […]

Very often, commonly used expressions in a language will have been in use for so long that their origins are now unclear. Sometimes there is clear origin. This new project from SRAS will help explain what some popular expressions mean in Russian and, where possible, where they came from. I. From the French The Russian […]