Khrushchev's words and his shoe banging

Kirill Sereda kvsereda at WORLDNET.ATT.NET
Fri May 2 22:11:21 UTC 2003


So what are those Russian superstitions related to shoes? From
experience I know only one: if your friend does not have as many as
possible, she may not survive it. :) Kirill

-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Yelena
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 2:47 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Khrushchev's words and his shoe banging


I believe that this is an accidental similarity in another culture.
Russians have plenty of supersitions, customs and believes connected
with shoes but not so obvious as you have mentioned. And of couse it is
extremely rude to bang the table with a shoe, because the table is
associated with the altar - stol-prestol. Thank you, yours Yelena
Minyonok


----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul B. Gallagher" <paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM>
To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 9:13 PM
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Khrushchev's words and his shoe banging


> Ruth Kreuzer wrote:
>
> > Side light on the "shoe-banging incident"...Many years ago my
> > dissertation advisor (Dr. Nicholas Pervushin, now deceased) was
> > working as interpretor at the UN that day. He told me the "shoe" was

> > really a sandal.  (I've always wanted to share that bit of
information!).
>
> I'd be interested to know whether there's any relationship between the

> shoe/sandal-banging and what we saw in Iraq after the American troops
> came through: local citizens banging shoes on statues of Saddam
> Hussein to demean him. Or was that just an accidental similarity in
> another culture?
>
> The NY Times had a sidebar explaining that the bottom of the shoe is
> considered dirty in Arab culture, so it is rude to show someone the
> bottom of your shoes, to wear your outdoor shoes inside a house or
> mosque, or to touch or strike someone with the bottom of your shoe...
>
> --
> War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
> --
> Paul B. Gallagher
> pbg translations, inc.
> "Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
> http://pbg-translations.com
>
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