Sunday, May 21, 2006


A sign on Bogomoltsa Street, in Lipki.

It is in Ukrainian - and it's not. It's the Soviet language pretending to be Ukrainian. Feels like we're back in the 1980s.

Here's a translation attempt:

Pechersk District Administration in the City of Kyiv
State Administration
Center of Social Services for Families, Children and Youth

TEENAGERS' CLUB BY THE PLACE OF RESIDENCE "COMRADE"


If you were a teen, would you like to go inside?

2 comments:

  1. Can you explain the difference between Ukrainian and "Soviet Ukrainian" ? Seems weird to me...

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  2. I'm talking about style, not the language per se - not about its grammar or orthography. But this style used to be so ubiquitous, it seemed to be the language itself. Yazyk ofitsioza - meaningless, heavy with pathos and ideology. In this case, it's an anti-sign, heavy with idiocy: comrade? place of residence? Also, zero of informativeness - and promises something really, really boooooooooring. It's in Ukrainian, but could be in any other language of the former Soviet Union - and the feeling would be the same. Like all those khrushchevki...

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