Poker and transliteration

[J. Douglas Clayton]

Hi Seelangers!

Just one thing that's bugging me in this debate: whatever happened to our
transliteration skills? Do we mean 'kresti' or 'kresty' (i.e., is the 't'
soft - if it is then I don't recognize the word)? By the same token, I think
we mean 'trefy' not 'trefi' and 'chervi' not 'chervy'. Whatever
transliteration system you use, the distinction should be there. Let's get
at least that much straight. 

Doug Clayton 


At 05:44 PM 10/8/98 -0700, you wrote:
>And I've never found 'kresti' in any dictionary--only trefi--but then I
>never heard 'trefi' out of the people with whom I played cards.  Kresti
>was the word of choice among my Vladivostok college age friends.  Could be
>regional, could be age, could be my own particular kompanija (although we
>did play cards with other folks--older--in trains, and I don't remember
>ever hearing trefi out of them).  It may not be the correct word according
>to some, but it is in use, at least among some Far Eastern card players.
>It could be a soda vs. pop preference.  I'd be curious if anyone else has
>heard of 'kresti' and/or if anyone knows where Russian card playing words
>came from.  I know 'hearts' as 'chervy', but I believe there is another
>term used as well.
>
>Emily Fields
>
>On Thu, 8 Oct 1998, Margarita Meyendorff wrote:
>
>> Dear Devin,
>>
>> I hate to put a cog in a wheel, perhaps this is just an addition.  However
>> clubs in my Russian circles (and I grew up playing cards in Russian) were
>> called "trefi".  I never heard of "kresti".  Anyway, take this for all its
>> worth.  Good luck.
>>
>> Mourka
>>
>
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J. Douglas Clayton                         Tel. 613-562-5800 Ex. 3765 (office)
Professor                                       613-241-1782 (home)
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         "La vie est bien trop triste pour qu'on la prenne au sérieux"