Was it worth it to ya? (aka Fire the Nuclear Wessels)

[PepperElf]

Interesting.

My roommate, who is Estonian, but spent his childhood under Soviet control (he was born in 1978) pronounces vodka as "wodka" but has no trouble saying v's. For instance, he might say "That wodka is very good." He has a strong accent, yes, but he is very well-spoken, more than a lot of immigrants in this country. I just always assumed that the "wodka" was not an inability to say v's, but rather the way they always said certain words. The dialect, if you will. Just as most Americans will say pronounce mozzarell as "MOTTS-uh-RELL-uh," whereas most Italian Americans will pronounce it "MOOTS-uh-rell."

I can only assume he's thinking of it as starting with the letter V like how we say it then. Cos the spelling i found for it I've seen at several sources ranging from my mac translate, to actual russian-english text books.

[Gizmo]

I just don't get why anyone would mispronounce a name on purpose once you know how it's supposed to be pronounced (and how the locals pronounce it, IMO, is the correct way).

Its usually to do with a brain burp rather than purpose. Sometimes my brain just wont 'remember' how to say it quick enough!

[Merriweather]

I seem to have a natural ability to pronounce places the way it drives most people mad. Bi-cester vs. Bista gets a great reaction around here.

When traveling, I make it a point to find out how the locals pronounce the local names, and attempt to do so. Seems to make sense to me, yet gets me odd looks all the time when I mention a place. I just don't get why anyone would mispronounce a name on purpose once you know how it's supposed to be pronounced (and how the locals pronounce it, IMO, is the correct way).

When we lived in Wales, one guy at the US navy facility where my hubby worked drove me up a wall, he would go on and on about how "dumb" it was to pronounce something a particular way - dude, it's pronounced the Welsh way, the name is in Welsh, you're in Wales! Could not get thru to this guy that not everything in the entire world should be pronounced according to American English rules of pronunciation. Needless to say, I avoided him like the plague.

[Gizmo]

Re: the proper pronunciation of words.

I have an ear for how "natives" pronounce things. It goes with my knack for accents and the like. So I know that what Jester says is more or less true.

I seem to have a natural ability to pronounce places the way it drives most people mad. Bi-cester vs. Bista gets a great reaction around here.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Re: the proper pronunciation of words.

I have an ear for how "natives" pronounce things. It goes with my knack for accents and the like. So I know that what Jester says is more or less true.

My knack came in handy once while I was doing "You Can't Take It With You" on stage at school. I pointed out to the girl we had playing Madam Kolenkhov (since we didn't have enough guys to go around to play Kolenkhov as a male) that Russians pronounce their capital city "Mus-coh" as opposed to the American pronunciation "Moss-cow." She took it to heart, so in a scene in the play, when Grandpa (me) and Kolenkhov are talking, we both pronounce it respective of our cultures. "Moss-cow" for Grandpa and "Muss-coh" for her.

[Seraph]

"MOTTS-uh-RELL-uh," whereas most Italian Americans will pronounce it "MOOTS-uh-rell."

I used to pronounce it that way, until I got made fun of for "not knowing how to say it right". Protesting that it was the way my family said it meant nothing, lol. I'd forgotten all about that, actually...been over a decade. (/cringe)

[Jester]

There seem to be two major forms of Russian accent, one which sounds like Chekov and another which is more guttural. The latter would have no trouble with V.

No Russian would ever say "Wodka" the way Checkov does. It's "Водочка"... which is pronounced "Vodka".

Interesting.

My roommate, who is Estonian, but spent his childhood under Soviet control (he was born in 1978) pronounces vodka as "wodka" but has no trouble saying v's. For instance, he might say "That wodka is very good." He has a strong accent, yes, but he is very well-spoken, more than a lot of immigrants in this country. I just always assumed that the "wodka" was not an inability to say v's, but rather the way they always said certain words. The dialect, if you will. Just as most Americans will say pronounce mozzarell as "MOTTS-uh-RELL-uh," whereas most Italian Americans will pronounce it "MOOTS-uh-rell."

[Flood]

I remember reading that the kid they got to play Checkov in the reboot really is russian and originally read the lines in a proper russian accent.

But then the director told him to say Wictor. To which the kid just shrugged and said "That's not russian, but you're the boss."

[PepperElf]

It is highly ironic, given his name, that Chekov has trouble with V sounds. Even more ironically, his console password - given verbally - in the reboot movie contained two "Wictor"s, which he had some difficulty getting the computer to accept.

There seem to be two major forms of Russian accent, one which sounds like Chekov and another which is more guttural. The latter would have no trouble with V.

Part of that I think is that... they didn't actually know much Russian when they wrote his character.

No Russian would ever say "Wodka" the way Checkov does. It's "Водочка"... which is pronounced "Vodka".


It's one of the gripes I have with the series.

[RealUnimportant]

That's not irony, that's forced humour. The V in Chekov is an F sound, which is why it doesn't cause issues. It's a wery vell known stereotype, based on the differences between Cyrillic & Arabic symbols vs pronunciation iirc.

[Chromatix]

It is highly ironic, given his name, that Chekov has trouble with V sounds. Even more ironically, his console password - given verbally - in the reboot movie contained two "Wictor"s, which he had some difficulty getting the computer to accept.

There seem to be two major forms of Russian accent, one which sounds like Chekov and another which is more guttural. The latter would have no trouble with V.

[Cia]

Has the guy discovered how royally screwed his is yet?

[mharbourgirl]

Found ya a nuclear weasel:



Also, there's a band.

[RealUnimportant]

Chekov: We're looking for the naval base in Al-a-mee-da - can you tell us where the nuclear wessels are?
Unhelpful: Oh, I don't know. I think it's across the Bay. In Alameda!
Chekov: That's what I said - Alameda, I know that.
Uhura: But where is Alameda?

Across the Bay, duh!

IIRC that whole bit was improvised by Walter Koenig & Nichele Nichols, and the unhelpful lady wasn't even an extra but a genuine passer-by who just reacted normally. They had to send a crew member running after her to get a release signed to use it.

[wolfie]

Hamster poop?

Yep, one of the hazards of firing "live ammunition".

As for the Chekov lines, "Captain, we have found a nuclear wessel, and she is the Enterprise."

I've heard that when Star Trek IV was shown in the Soviet Union (audio in the Original Russian, of course), the censors left in what was a throwaway line for North American audiences but had audiences rolling in the aisles behind the Iron Curtain "The bureaucratic mentality is the fundamental constant of the universe", and an extremely politically-charged line about the crew's arrival in the 20th century United States "Remember, you are entering a primitive and paranoid society".