There’s a funny memory that sticks in my mind from my early days of learning Russian with a particularly charismatic Russian teacher who tended to exaggerate and act out her explanations. It was when she decided to explain how the Russian word for ‘fast’ became synonymous with ‘fast food’ the world over, and how the French- and English-speaking world got the word ‘bistro.’

I’m sure you won’t find this tale told in any English courses London or French courses London… and perhaps not even with so much zeal in any other Russian courses either! It all centres around Russian soldiers stationed in France in a post-Napoleonic conquest era. With rumbling stomachs and food on their minds, the Russian soldiers used to “apparently” bark out their orders in the French traiteurs, specifying that they wanted food – and fast! The French misunderstood the ‘fast’ (bistro) as meaning ‘food’ and they started advertising bistro on their shop fronts. This explanation has stuck with me to this very day; why let only a grain of historical accuracy get in the way of a good story?

There are scores of words that have been incorporated into English from a Russian point of origin, and a lot are now in such common usage that you’ll even find them mentioned in an English lesson London! Some examples relate to Russian landscapes, like steppe and taiga, whilst others are particular to Russian culinary customs, such as vodka, samovar, pelmeni, pirozhki and borscht! Makes my mouth water just at the thought of these tasty treats! Babushka, banya, cosmonaut, kremlin, mammoth and troika are all originally Russian words, and the list goes on and on. Many of these words are now used internationally, so don’t be surprised to find them even used in French, German or in an English course London or a Spanish course London. It’s the power of words and expressions that allow them to transcend international and linguistic borders.