---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- I've been studing a little bit on Russian socio-cultural traits for a class, specifically on language and communication. Isn't Putin's comments an example of (in Russian) "mat" or a kind of general colloquialism that is often sexual in nature?
Kind of like if a reporter asked Bush a question and Bush replied "go piss up a rope."
I'm not sayin', I'm askin'...
Alan Jacobson
---- Not "mat." "Mat" is a really vulgar set of vocabulary most people will say only in whispers, if at all. People don't write mat; they will maybe use the first letter, followed by dots. When you hear it, it turns your ears red.
Russia is a very conservative country. Mayor Luzhkov banned the ska band Leningrad from playing in Moscow because they use mat in their songs.
It's comparable I think to your "piss up a rope" example. That's boorish language, but not mat. If Putin had used mat, boy, that would have been a scandal. Blyad! Yob tvoyu mat'!