pol'ka-babochka

[John Dunn]

Many thanks for all your replies.  These have tended to confirm the suspicions which were aroused in my mind by the sparse and generally unenlightening links offered by Google. It certainly does not seem to be a 'vecchia espressione popolare', which is how La Repubblica glossed the phrase last Friday.  I wonder if it will go on to join some of Putin's other sayings in the 'hall of fame' of post-Soviet krylatye vyrazhenija.  

Of the different variations on paying the paper and calling the tune my favourite is one which I think I first came across when it was used by Boris Berezovskij: Кто ужинает девушку, тот её и танцует [Kto uzhinaet devushku, tot ee i tancuet].

John Dunn.


-----Original Message-----
From: FRISON Philippe <Philippe.FRISON at COE.INT>
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:43:26 +0200
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] pol'ka-babochka

 According to several sites which can be found with Goggle (see for ex. http://eurasia.ru/archive/?a=81 ), "pol'ka-babochka" does seem to have a special meaning, apart from its first one, which is a variant of polka.

Any hint ?

Philippe Frison
Strasbourg (France)


John Dunn
Honorary Research Fellow, SMLC (Slavonic Studies)
University of Glasgow, Scotland

Address:
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Tel.: +39 051/1889 8661
e-mail: J.Dunn at slavonic.arts.gla.ac.uk
johnanthony.dunn at fastwebnet.it

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