pol'ka-babochka

[Edward M Dumanis]

I think you are correct.
Cf., Alexey Tolstoy "Zolotoy klyuchik ili priklyucheniya Buratino," where
the puppets dance and sing "pol'ka Karabas" a.k.a. pol'ka-ptichka. It was
called so because of the first line "Ptichka pol'ku tantsevala."
Modifying a famous Russian saying "ot ptichki do babochki - odin shag" :)

Sincerely,

Edward Dumanis <dumanis at buffalo.edu>


On Tue, 26 Jun 2007, Patricia Chaput wrote:

> I know I haven't seen all the replies sent, and I could be entirely 
> wrong, but I thought that pol'ka-babochka was a dance that children are 
> often taught to perform, one of those common experiences of childhood.  
> So I thought Putin used the name of the dance to trivialize the 
> writing.  I would love to hear if this is correct.
> Pat Chaput
> 
> On 26.06.2007 5:21, John Dunn wrote:
> > 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:
> > Via Carolina Coronedi Berti 6
> > 40137 Bologna
> > Italy
> > Tel.: +39 051/1889 8661
> > e-mail: J.Dunn at slavonic.arts.gla.ac.uk
> > johnanthony.dunn at fastwebnet.it
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
> >   options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
> >                     http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>   options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                     http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------