The Secretary and the Reset Button (A case for promoting U.S. Russian language study)

[David Powelstock]

Apparently someone gave Hillary the correct translation of 'peregruzka' at
some point. I just heard her on NPR saying, in some sense the original
inscription was right; we're resetting, and that's creating an overload of
work for us. 

I would have favored 'vosstanovlenie,' which carries an appropriate overtone
of "restoration" (vosstanovlenie normal'nykh otnoshenii)--but I have no idea
how this would "read" as a single word on a (chief) executive toy.

As for Condi Rice's Russian, I haven't heard it myself, but I've heard
second-hand that it's not great. A colleague heard her interviewed on Russia
TV. Asked (in Russian) whether she planned to run for president, she
answered, "Da, da." Apparently she only heard the word "prezident." (I vot
eto da!) But I would hesitate to criticize the language skills of the one
SoS in recent history who spoke Russian.  (One might level other
criticisms.) Did anyone in seelangsspace actually see this interview?

Cheers,
David

David Powelstock

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------