FYI
I realize that a lot of Americans like and respect Mikhail Gorbachev, but you should know that Vladimir Putin is his protege.
I may have mentioned before, but Medvedev literally means “of the bear”. A medved is a bear in Russian. It is a compound word that breaks down into med [honey] and ved [authority, expert]. The Slavs tamed bears to locate honeycombs, the same way the French train pigs to find truffles.
The honey was traded North to the Vikings for the production of mead, the drink, while the beeswax was traded South to Constantinople to be made into candles. They were very important export commodities.
2 comments
I love hearing everybody try pronouncing Vladimir’s last name.
Given how regular Russian pronunciation is, I’m amazed.