ethnic expressions

[ursula.doleschal]

>On 13.10.95 James West wrote:
>> There's a need for a little care in the collection of ethnic expressions.
>> "Prusak" in Russian, too, means a 'roach (Blatta orientalis, the "ryzhii
>> tarakan," or for Dal' the "malyi ili buryi izbnoi tarakan"), and it's a
>> derivative surely from "prus," which is an item of specialized horse
>> vocabulary - the same Slavic word as the Polish? "Prussak" with a
>> double-ss is the Russian for a Prussian.
>>
>On the other hand, "svab" in Hungarian is also a cockroach, which
>suggests a similar attitude to the Germans.

In German a cockroach can be named "depending on the little beloved
neighbouring people Preusse (Prussian), Schwab(e) (Swabian) or Russe
(Russian)", as has been mentioned by the famous zoologist Otto Schmeil.

Ursula Doleschal (ursula.doleschal at wu-wien.ac.at)
Institut f. Slawische Sprachen, Wirtschaftsuniv. Wien
Augasse 9, 1090 Wien, Austria
Tel.: ++43-1-31336 4115, Fax:  ++43-1-31336 744