fanjinshi n.— «The central festival topic is named by a peculiar coinage-Fanjinshi, a portmanteau word made of the English “fanzine” and “dojinshi,” Japanese analogue of “Samizdat,” Russian word for an...
talik n.— «The technical term for thawed permafrost is talik, from a Russian word meaning “not frozen.”» —“The Climate Of Man” by Elizabeth Kolbert New Yorker Apr. 18, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued...
mahoff n.— «The man known as “the big mahoff” of Philadelphia gambling told the Kefauver senate crime committee today that he…denied cash payoffs to Richardson for protection.…Rosen and Weisberg, both Russian...
chestnut revolution n.— «Chairman of the Russian State Duma international affairs committee Mikhail Margelov has expressed doubt that Ukraine would see a “chestnut revolution’ in case opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko loses the...
white knowledge n.— «I think it’s just a joke; the storming of the winter palace in the Russian Revolution is far more ingrained into people’s “white knowledge.”» —“Re: IT Annotations (spoiler)” by Colm...
shakhidka n.— «You won’t find it in any Russian dictionary, but a single word dominates newspaper headlines and conversations in the street after two weeks of bombings and mayhem: shakhidka, or female Islamist suicide bomber. A mix of the...