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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3148 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why Russian drivers "blink" on the road

    Russia doesn't seem all that different from America.

This is a thought I had for a long time now, thanks to what the YouTube commentator Drift0r told his viewers about the US. People seem to have built sky-high barriers between the two nations, even though there's a lot we can learn from each other, including looking at one another and noticing what each nation alone won't in themselves.

It's true that the dare most criminals possess is attractive, but given how many of them are on screens in Russia, it's more than just bandit charm: it's Russians cheering for both the idealistically good police and the mindlessly evil lawbreakers (the more if one is as well the other).

    When in doubt, just use "sir."

This is one thing I love about English: you can address any man by using the respectful but not poetic "sir", and any(?) woman - by using "ma'am".

Russians use the gender names as tone-neutral and you-based addresses: "Мужчина ([muzh-TSCHI-nah], "man"), pass the cash to the driver, please" or "Женщина ([ZHEN-schih-nah], "woman"), could you not step on my feet?". When you're not young enough for either of those ("women" are females above the age of thirty-something, but I in my 20 years of age am a "man" already), people use "молодой человек" [moh-loh-DOY tscheh-loh-VEHK] ("young man") or "девушка" [DEH-vush-kah] (a name for a young female adult, a rank higher than "девочка" [DEH-votsch-kah], "girl", who's younger than 16 or 18).





TheVenerableCain  ·  3148 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    When I worked at the construction site, my first six weeks of work were unofficial, and so the payment to me wasn't declared anywhere (probably ascribed to buying a bit more materials); as such, I received what's called "black payment" (which is analogous in meaning to black market, with "white payment" being taxed over and "grey payment" being a combination of two - so you might make 80k in total, but the organization only pays taxes on the officially declared 30k).

We would call black payment "paying under the table" here in the US. I don't think we have a name for the other two, but many places with cash tips are the same as your grey payment. Credit card tips are recorded, but sometimes it's up to the person being tipped to declare cash tips to be taxed.

    This is one thing I love about English: you can address any man by using the respectful but not poetic "sir", and any(?) woman - by using "ma'am".

Yep! Tacking on a "sir" or "ma'am" is usually smiled upon. You can call an older man "sir" and be seen as respectful, while calling a younger man "sir" helps them feel respected and included. I've seen some younger women turn their nose up at being called ma'am because it makes them feel old, but everyone gets a healthy dose of "sir" and "ma'am" from me anyway. Take my respect, dammit!

user-inactivated  ·  3148 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    but many places with cash tips are the same as your grey payment.

To clarify: the grey payment people get and serve is far beyond the scale of tips.

    Take my respect, dammit!

"Sir is a term of respect. And you will have my respect - until you abuse it".

I wonder how will such addressment live in Russia. Soon, I'll find out.