Reasons to study Russian, or English for that matter!

[J.W.]

Ottawa, Sunday 3/2/08 18h45 EST

This whole discussion reminds me of the many prevailing Canadian jokes
about Americans' ignorance of Canada.  One of them has a Russian
connection.

A few years ago, as I remember, a CBC TV humourist, Rick Mercer, caught
(then-U.S.-presidential-candidate) George W. Bush off guard by asking
him a trick question at a press-conference about "the Canadian Prime
Minister, Jean Poutine".  I forget what Bush's actual reply was, but he
fell for the bait.

And for those unacquainted with the full background of this 'trick
question', I might point out that the Canadian Prime Minister at the
time was named Jean Chrétien.  Whereas 'poutine' (stressed on second
syllable) in Canada (particularly Québec and eastern Ontario) is a
delicious blend of hot chips, cheese curds and gravy!

(Mr) John Woodsworth
Certified Translator (Russian-English)
Research Associate, Slavic Research Group at the University of Ottawa
Website: http://www.kanadacha.ca
E-mail: jw at kanadacha.ca / vanya1v at yahoo.com

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