spootnik

[Josh Wilson]

And apparently Laika herself was occasionally referred to as "Mutt-nik" -
especially in NASA circles. 

-- I do, however, have a hard time believing that the widespread, accepted
pronunciation of "sputnik" had more to do with concerted propaganda and less
to do with the fact that "sputnik" just looks like it should rhyme with
"But-nik"...  

For those interested in the cosmos - SRAS has just published a new article
on Russia in space - http://www.sras.org/russia_in_space - take a look if
you'd like. 



Josh Wilson
Assistant Director
The School of Russian and Asian Studies
Editor in Chief
Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies
SRAS.org 
jwilson at sras.org



-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of William Ryan
Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 2:53 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] spootnik

I would agree with that. In fact I remember an English tabloid headline 
unkindly referring to a failed satellite launch as a 'phutnik' - and it 
was referring to a US rocket. The cheap press can't resist a bad pun 
whatever its target. Apart from serious expressions of concern about the 
extension of the cold war into space, the only anti-Soviet comment on 
the early Russian space program that I recall in Britain was also in the 
tabloid press and expressed outrage at the cruel exploitation of dogs 
(the famous Laika) - always a good thing to accuse foreigners of in 
English popular newspapers.
Will Ryan


Ernest Sjogren wrote:
>> It was anti-Soviet propaganda - diminishing the accomplishment by 
>> making it sound like it went "putt-putt."
>
> Not that I recall, but I suppose that may have been possible for 
> some.  A "u" followed by 2 consonants was usually sounded to rhyme 
> with "but" and would have been so pronounced by most people, an aural 
> model lacking.
>
> Ernie Sjogren
>

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