Letters to the Editor

To the Editors:

During this last year, I have been reading Russian Life. It had been given to me by my son for Christmas and I enjoyed it very much. Hopefully he will give it to me again this Christmas.

In the last issue (Nov/Dec 2009) I have been wondering about your translation of the word мужик (Marital Squabbles, Survival Russian, page 30, which is very amusing and probably true). Мужик is a “peasant”; a man is a мужчина... In American English, I think, you do not use the word peasant, but say “farmer,” [but] the dialog would sound awkward if you would have written... “You are not a farmer [peasant] but a rag.”...