There are about five thousand languages functioning in the world, and it is absolutely impossible to imagine that they did not interact with each other. And Russian is no exception in this respect. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that a lot of familiar things to all of us are called terms familiar to us. For your attention "ten" famous words of the Russian language, which are known in all corners of the planet.
1. Vodka (Vodka)
Perhaps it will be difficult to find a more popular Russian word all over the world than the name of the legendary forty-degree drink. Today vodka is produced in many countries of the world, but it is invariably called only by its original term. This is not surprising, because, despite the fact that such alcoholic beverages can be found in a number of national cuisines, none of them has yet had such popularity as the Russian forty-degree one.
2. Taiga
The vast forests that Russian Siberia is proud of is called taiga in the domestic open spaces. Although in other countries a similar natural belt can also be found, and they have their own names. However, most often foreign researchers and agronomists, and after them and the townsfolk, use the Russian word "taiga". And this is despite the fact that in the same English language, there is a word Boreal Forest, which literally translates as "boron".
3. Grandmother (Babushka)
Oddly enough, but it is the Russian word "grandmother" that is included in the list of our most common words on the planet. And the national folklore needs to be thanked for this - through his efforts abroad, the image of a kind old woman in a colorful headscarf has become firmly rooted. That is why today the word “grandmother” is often referred to as restaurants of Russian cuisine or shops with souvenirs abroad.
4. Borscht
In fairness, it should be noted that the word "borsch" is common to all East Slavic languages, and it is from here that this term penetrated into the lexicon of other peoples of the world. But its meaning is somewhat different: if we call this a specific dish with a certain recipe, then in the rest of the world this word is used almost every time it is necessary to name a red soup.
5. Intelligentsia
Another word with which not everything is so unambiguous. The fact is that the term "intelligentsia" is a borrowing from the Latin language and it would be wrong to call it natively Russian. However, it was our speech that provided the foundation for its dissemination around the world. It turns out that the British borrowed this word for themselves precisely after they got acquainted with our language, and after that it began to appear from them in more and more dialects.
6. Balalaika
But with the word "balalaika" everything is just quite simple. The word is really ours, and its spread in other languages of the world was facilitated by the famous stereotype, which frankly irritates many of our compatriots. Indeed, in addition to the bears on the streets and the cosmonaut Gagarin, this particular stringed musical instrument has been a persistent association with Russians for many years. But still, there is one good point in this stereotypical thinking of foreigners of the past: together with the term, the balalaika itself has gained immense popularity abroad.
7. Sputnik
The world learned about the Russian word "satellite" in the late fifties of the last century, when the USSR was the first on the planet to launch a corresponding apparatus into space. And although in the same English language there is the word Satellite, which, in fact, is translated as "satellite", but our word also found a place there. So, there is such a phrase - "Sputnik Moment", and it means a period when a person will need to work long and hard.
8. Matryoshka
Another word that got abroad thanks to folklore and Russian folk tradition. Today, quite often in different parts of the world you can find shops of Russian souvenirs or restaurants of Russian cuisine, which are called "matryoshka". At the same time, in the lexicon of foreigners there is another name for this famous toy - in the world it is called simply "Russian doll".
9. Mammoth
It seems surprising, but the word "mammoth" is a borrowing from the Russian language. Moreover, this happened relatively recently - in 1896, when the remains of an ancient animal were first found on the territory of the Russian Empire during the construction of the famous Moscow Highway. True, when borrowing, the orthoepy of the word changed slightly: in English, the last sound "t" is not pronounced in the word "mammoth".
10. Dacha
For us, this dacha is often associated with vegetable gardens or rest with barbecue. But foreigners, although they adopted this word, but with a slightly changed meaning. So, the Americans and the British will not call every country house a "dacha", but a small cottage in a wooded area and, by the way, without vegetable gardens - quite.
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