Fantasy and historical novels about people who fell in love and great love in the times of Moscow or even Kievan Rus encourage numerous authors to use old words for the atmosphere and transmission of the realities of the time. The problem is that few of them bother to check the meaning of a word first, and as a result, the amount of embarrassment and absurdity in their stories is discouraging. We present a quick guide to the most commonly misused words when trying to "write antiquity"
In the language of the average modern person, there are a lot of words that are not prohibited by linguists, but irritate the ear. And most often these words turn out to be really illiterate, and the person who uses them, pronouncing them, also looks like that. So, we deal with mistakes in speaking
In old Russia, there was a profession called priyuch or birich. This word was called heralds, that is, people close to the prince, whose duties included the announcement of the prince's will and the reading of decrees in the squares and streets. The heralds had to quickly spread information, and sometimes advertise some goods. Read who was hired for this service, what were the requirements for heralds, and why such a job was dangerous
When writing certain words, anyone can make a mistake, because, really, not everyone has absolute literacy and not everyone, unfortunately, had an A in the Russian language at school. Especially often comments and posts on the Internet, and sometimes articles on websites, are full of such errors. However, there are words in which people misspell the most often. And if you didn't manage to learn them at school, now you can just remember them. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the mini-rating of such "insidious" words
Wanting to enrich their speech and more lucidly describe someone's quality or an ongoing event, many use "beautiful" and "smart" words. These words are so well-known and familiar that, it would seem, there can be no questions here. However, in fact, many of these words are often misused. Sometimes even the opposite. And this can lead to a whole host of problems. A spoken or written phrase can be perceived ambiguously, it can offend someone or ask
Researchers on the issues of higher education for women are unanimous in their conclusions: young ladies from the Russian Empire have paved a wide path for the women of the world in this area. They came to European universities so well prepared that many professors found it foolish not to let them graduate. But who trained girls at a time when in Russia itself they were not yet admitted to general universities?
"Dead Souls" is considered the most mysterious work of Nikolai Gogol. Many researchers are still trying to figure out what really happened with the second volume. Was it mercilessly burned by a picky author, or maybe it was stolen by ill-wishers? Some believe that Gogol did not write the second part of the poem at all, but arranged a grandiose hoax. Read the most interesting versions of this event in the material
Nikon's reform, begun in the 1650s, divided the Russian Orthodox world into Old Believers and Renovationists. In 1667 the Old Believers fled and settled on the western outskirts and outside the state, on the territory of the Commonwealth. In 1762, Catherine II issued a decree on the return of the Old Believers. With the help of the troops by force, as well as promising certain benefits in the new lands, she relocated almost 100,000 schismatics to Altai and Transbaikalia. Far in Siberia, in the Trans-Baikal steppes of Buryatia, to this day exists
Many coats of arms of cities or countries depict mythical creatures. Dragons and dragon-like creatures are often found among the popular "personas". So on the Kazan coat of arms a similar snake flaunts under the name Zilant. And he became a symbol of the city not with the light hand of artists, but at the behest of the monarch
Legends still circulate about Pushkin's love affairs. Still would! The poet's temperament and amorousness did "their job" - on account of him more than a hundred ties with the first beauties of St. Petersburg and the province, including married ladies. And if Pushkin's poetic gift was exemplary, then the same cannot be said about his moral character. He openly boasted of his novels, not hesitating to announce the names and surnames. Moreover, in one of the visits to the Ushakovs in the album of Elizaveta Nikolaevna, he left a record that
The writer Alexandre Dumas was a very prolific and successful author. Many generations in all countries of the world have read his novels. Where did he get the subjects for his works? As a matter of fact, Dumas did not invent the main thing - the basis of the novel, which he usually found in historical notes, archives and memoirs. But then, using his considerable imagination, he turned an ordinary plot into an exciting narration
The reasons for the Anglo-Burmese War were essentially the same as those of the Opium Wars. Burmese officials disdained British subjects, considered them "overseas devils" and insulted them in every way. Naturally, the British could not leave this without a response
King Edward the Confessor died on January 5, 1066, and almost immediately the Witenagemot, or Grand Council, elected Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, as king. It cannot be said that the future of the new monarch looked completely cloudless - firstly, there was not a drop of royal blood in his veins, the influential counts of Mercia and Northumbria, the brothers Edwin and Morkar were in open opposition to him. But the most important difficulty was that there were at least two more contenders abroad
“No one has ever heard Tom Hanks run wild at night. No one has ever heard of Tom Hanks stealing from stores. No one has ever seen the notes about Tom Hanks in the crime chronicles. That's what I really like about Tom - he never comes across, "- said in an interview about his colleague in the acting shop Jack Nicholson
Today, despite the development of science and education, there are still people who believe that our planet Earth is a flat disk. It is enough to go to the Internet and type the phrase "flat Earth". There is even a society of the same name that advocates this idea. We tell how things really were in Antiquity and in the European Middle Ages
The Mexican television series "Wild Rose" has become one of the symbols of the early 90s of the last century for all citizens of the disappeared state called the USSR. Then, in a period of timelessness, against the backdrop of political and economic cataclysms, every evening people clung to TV screens to follow the difficult fate of the young beauty Rosa. This heartfelt essay talks about that time, about all of us and, of course, about the beautiful Veronica Castro
One woman broke up with her husband. Because of the nonsense. He did not meet her at the airport. What is she, little, or what? You can order a taxi there and get a great ride home. There is money. What is the point of going so far, wasting money and time, if it is more convenient to take a taxi and get there? This lady did just that
October 1 was International Music Day, and October 4, the Day of the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, began World Space Week, which will last until October 10. We decided to combine musical and space holidays and prepared material about what kind of music the founder of practical cosmonautics Sergey Pavlovich Korolev liked. Motives from which operettas the academician sang during work, which records are stored in his closet and which musical instruments can be seen
The Russian language is very rich in sayings, fixed expressions, proverbs, and we do not skimp on them in everyday life. However, we do not always think about whether we are using certain idioms correctly, but in vain. After all, if you study their history, you can learn very interesting things. It turns out that many of the expressions we were used to in our distant ancestors had a completely different meaning
In August 1991, a monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky was dismantled on Lubyanskaya Square in Moscow. The history of mass repressions was associated with the name of the main Soviet Chekist, and in the early nineties such a symbol could no longer decorate one of the central squares of the capital. “Iron Felix” is remembered today as the creator of the Cheka. But the biography of Dzerzhinsky was rich in other facts that were not always related to repression and the "iron" image of an unyielding Bolshevik
The approaching twentieth anniversary of the October Revolution was greeted by the Land of Soviets in a proud awareness of its power. The battles on the fields of the Civil War have long since died down; the White Guards and their masters, the interventionists from 14 imperialist states, have been defeated and thrown out. The Trotskyists have been defeated: the hysterical cries of all kinds of oppositions have long ceased to be heard at party meetings, and their leader, "Judas Trotsky," in impotent rage, pours mud on the USSR. Industrialization and its brainchild - the mighty Krasus
Residents of border areas know: if you want to trade with your neighbors, find a common language with them. If you have delicious cod, and they grow the wheat you need, then sooner or later you will meet at the market. Once the Norwegians and Russian Pomors met in this way. And soon Russenorsk appeared - a special Norwegian-Russian language
"Not at ease", "places not so distant", "filkin literacy" - all these and many other rather strange expressions people use in their speech, sometimes without thinking about their true meaning. We decided to figure out how these expressions appeared in our language
From time to time, because of the films, real scandals flare up, and the pictures themselves can be banned from showing without being released on screens. In this case, we can talk not only about too explicit scenes. However, the noise and scandals around films usually play into the hands of producers, because the effect of free advertising can significantly increase the box office due to the increased interest of viewers
In the old days, in the evenings, carts with barrels appeared on the streets of Russian cities. The whole appearance of the man on the cart indicated that he was a very important person. No, these were not water carriers - they were the ancestors of modern sewer workers, the goldsmiths, who came to clean the cesspools. Now this profession has been forgotten, and at the word "golden" many people imagine a person whose work is somehow connected with gold
Australia is not only amazing animals and the invasion of spiders, but also very unusual laws, customs and outlook on life. However, bills with the image of a counterfeiter, horse thief, and also a rebellious social climber are an excellent example of how extraordinary this country is in making certain decisions
The British-Nigerian artist creates full-length surreal sculptures, adorned with batik fabrics, whose history is rooted in colonialism. In this way, Yinka is trying to draw public attention to the modern concepts of identity that he has encountered throughout most of his life, trying to integrate into a society that is hostile and wary of blacks
The name is not just a beautiful word that denotes this or that person. It is also his word-code, a set of sounds that will accompany him throughout his life and, in one way or another, influence him. Each letter has its own timbre of pronunciation, some stretch, others are pronounced harshly - even this superficial analysis allows us to understand that everything is not so simple with the sounds in the names
People love holidays. This is an opportunity to relax, meet friends, relax, and have a delicious meal. Today there are many holidays, and some of them began to be celebrated in the country not so long ago, such as Valentine's Day. And what are the long New Year holidays! In Soviet times, great attention was paid to the holidays. People worked hard and wanted to rest. The labor calendar was the same for everyone, and the days colored red were eagerly awaited. They prepared for them, talked about them, looked forward to
The second half of the 20th century was marked by the active struggle of women for gender equality. However, this was not always the case. Previously, a woman was called "the keeper of the hearth" and pointed to the appropriate place. Nevertheless, history knows several facts when the fair sex did not want to put up with this order of things and performed real feats, dressing up in a man's dress
In the USSR, the Baltic States have always been different, and have never fully become Soviet. The local ladies were different from the rank-and-file union workers, and the men were different from the rank-and-file builders of communism. Under the Soviet Union, three small agrarian states grew into a developed industrial region. It was here that the brands that the whole USSR longed for were born. Soviet citizens rightfully called the Baltic lands their own foreign countries
There is an old anecdote: “There are two sailing along the river, a man and a woman. The man smokes and the woman row. Suddenly the man says: "It's good for you, woman: row yourself and row, but I have to think about life." This anecdote describes well the centuries-old attitude of philosophers to their occupation and women. But even in those days when it took a lot of fortitude and a lot of effort to break into science and make a woman talk about her works, women's names flashed in the horizon of philosophy. Yes, women always
One of the most harmonious and trouble-free marriages of Russian rulers, historians call the union of the son of Ivan the Terrible Fyodor Ioannovich and Irina Godunova. Despite the well-known paternal cruelty to numerous wives, the heir loved his spouse selflessly. Taking advantage of her husband's full disposition, Irina Fedorovna managed to become a full-fledged co-ruler of the tsar. She corresponded with the Kakhetian queen and the English queen, not hiding that she wanted power. True, she was not allowed to rule Russia
The February Revolution was the time of the orators. Revolutionary meetings became a favorite mass spectacle. There was even a term - "tenors of the revolution", since they went to the performances of popular orators, as before they went to the opera house to see a talented singer. One of the first among them was Alexander Kerensky - a man raised by the crowd to the post of leader of the country and people's leader
The Soviet citizen actually did not have the opportunity to legally leave his homeland. One of the options was to marry a foreigner. And the family path was ordered for a man, since emigration was limited as much as possible. In the 80s, the entire Union population had no more than 1-2 thousand visas per year. Therefore, those wishing to leave the USSR had to resort to extreme measures and think over whole schemes of illegal ways to part with their homeland. History has recorded the most desperate fugitives who for the sake of abroad
Under articles about the history of discrimination against blacks in the United States or the slave trade in Europe, one can often see comments: "If there were blacks in Russia at that time, they would not have been better off." However, blacks came to Russia at that time. So you can compare the attitude towards them in the countries of the active slave trade and in the Russian Empire
The heyday of the Russian school of painting art came in the 18th century, after the opening of the Imperial Academy of Arts. This educational institution opened the world to such outstanding artists as: Vasily Ivanovich Surikov, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel, Fedor Stepanovich Rokotov, as well as many other famous masters. And already from the 1890s, female representatives were allowed to study at this academy. Such talented artists as: Sophia Vasilye studied here
The name of Maria Bochkareva, one of the first women - officers, is worthy of the pages of Russian history textbooks. As soon as they did not call this brave woman - "Russian Jeanne d'Arc" and "Russian Amazon". Her image is immortalized in the works of Pikul and Akunin, films "Battalion" and "Admiral"
This was one of the most high-profile cases of the early 1980s. The case when a 12-year-old child, against the will of his parents, asked for political asylum in the United States was unprecedented, he was covered by the leading media around the world. Vladimir Polovchak became a symbol of the desire for freedom and managed to defend his right to an independent choice of residence and citizenship. How did the fate of the youngest defector from the USSR develop in the future?
In the wake of modern emancipation, it sometimes seems to us that women in the old days were always the "weaker sex" - they gave birth to children and served men. However, in different countries and at different times there were female warriors. Sometimes they even made up active combat units that terrified opponents not only because of the unusualness of the fighters, but also because of their unprecedented cruelty