A better world - the one I'd like to live in

[Spirit]

Well ^_^
...
My family is a mosaic of cultures - there are jews from Romania, Ukraine(west and east) , balthic region etc. I'm originaly from Russia, Sibir (yep, it's cold out there - average of -30 every whinter). And today I live in Israel...

I have a very long last name, that has its own history. One thing i know for sure - the first part of it ("Radle") is of a french origin, it was the last name of some french count. ^_^ Can some recognize it?

[grumbler]

I got a better imigration story than that!

My maternal grandfather and his older brother came to the US after WWI (yep, I am that old ) from Finland (they were from the portion of Finland that didn't end up part of Finland, and needed a bolt-hole fast).

My grandfather's brother knew a bit of English. My grandfather practically none, other than what he picked up on the way over.

They planned to go through immigration together, with my great-uncle covering for my grandfather's lack of language, but got split up and ended up going through seperately.

My grand-uncle, when told to "Americanize" his multisyllabbic 'ferin' name, translated it into English and entered the US as "George Newfield."

My grandfather, with broken English, had the same "Americanizing" experience and came out as "Herman Holmes."

The two branches of the family have debated ever since (in fun) which was the "true" family name.

The funny thing is that my mother (Herman Holmes's daughter) knows not a word of Finnish that is not a swear word. Herman and his (Finnish-born) wife decided that since they were Americans, they would speak only English, and their resolve only broke down when hammering their thunmbs or burning themselves, when they reverted to Finnish swear words!

My mom was a spoilsport and did not pass down this ethnic heritage.

[Spoo Junky]

Thanks alex_t. I never thought it was the whole name because it's so short - ususally names from there are 10,000 letters long and not pronouncable. I guess I was wrong.

[alex_t]

Yesss! It is surely "¤¹µ"! I've just checked with my friends, and they know it (it is fairly common family name).

The correct English version is actually Pyzh - so I guess the "h" was removed by officer.

And the meaning is what Spirit wrote (and it's the same in Russian and Ukrainian).
And also it can be a bird, you know:
"ÎÞµÞÛ-´¹µÞÛ, ÒõÕ ‗¹ ß¹Ù?
═Ó È¯Ý‗ÓÝÛÕ Ô¯õÛ¾ ´ÞÙ!".

Originally posted by Spoo Junky
Isn't Ukrainian and Russian kind of similar? [/B]

Well, I understand about 50% of Ukrainian speech. But I have no experience with Ukrainian-specific family names.

[Spoo Junky]

BTW, how do you pronounce Pyz? Like "peace" ? Or like "peez" ?

The way my great aunts and uncles say it is "peez", I think. It's been awhile since I heard it last


It sounds like Pyz. Well, Pyz, as I know it - is a ball of paper, that was used to press the gunpowder together inside a gun (19th century guns that had no shells for the bullet).


That's kind of interesting. Unfortunately, my great grandparents aren't around anymore to ask. Some of my other family speaks ukrainian, maybe I'll ask them.

I'm not good at languages. My grandmother and her bros. and sisters spoke ukrainian and french a lot when I was growing up Even though I'm Canadian and took french all through school, it didn't really stick. Isn't Ukrainian and Russian kind of similar?

[Spirit]

Originally posted by Spoo Junky
My great grandparents on my mother's side came from the Ukraine and their name was Pyz. It seems so short, but maybe the immigration officer shortened it when they got off the boat. I hear that happened a lot and that's why there are so many variations of last names.

I would like to know if Pyz is an actual name though. My father in law is into geneology but a short form wouldn't do any good.

I think it's more like "¤¹µ"...

It sounds like Pyz. Well, Pyz, as I know it - is a ball of paper, that was used to press the gunpowder together inside a gun (19th century guns that had no shells for the bullet).

But maybe in Ukrainian it means something else....

[alex_t]

Originally posted by alex_t
I have several friends who are Ukrainians and I will ask them tomorrow.

Unfortunately they cannot guess the correct name. Sorry!

[bakana]

maybe the immigration officer shortened it

Still happens. I have a couple friends who were originally from Taiwan.
When they first came to the US for College, the immigration clerk spelled Joe's name wrong on the documents being generated via computer.
When Joe pointed out the mistake, the man refused to correct it.
Joe was told that he could Accept the mistake or go home to Taiwan.
At the time, he only expected to stay until he got his degree, so he figured it wasn't all that important.
Then, a couple years later, he got a great Job offer and he and his wife ended up staying permanently.
They have two daughters now who have "fun" explaining why their name's English Spelling doesn't match the pronunciation.
Because they still write and pronounce it Correctly in Chinese...

[alex_t]

Originally posted by Spoo Junky
My great grandparents on my mother's side came from the Ukraine and their name was Pyz. It seems so short, but maybe the immigration officer shortened it when they got off the boat. I hear that happened a lot and that's why there are so many variations of last names.

I would like to know if Pyz is an actual name though. My father in law is into geneology but a short form wouldn't do any good.

I'm sorry, I'm from Russia - not from Ukraine, and I don't really know Ukrainian family names. I have several friends who are Ukrainians and I will ask them tomorrow.

BTW, how do you pronounce Pyz? Like "peace" ? Or like "peez" ?

[Spoo Junky]

My great grandparents on my mother's side came from the Ukraine and their name was Pyz. It seems so short, but maybe the immigration officer shortened it when they got off the boat. I hear that happened a lot and that's why there are so many variations of last names.

I would like to know if Pyz is an actual name though. My father in law is into geneology but a short form wouldn't do any good.

[alex_t]

Originally posted by Spirit
still... his last name is funnier than mine....
("Son of a mouse family" - letterary)...

I would say simply "mouse's"

[alex_t]

Originally posted by Spirit
Oh, you telling me? My family name is 15 letters long, and no one, but no one can get it right...
Ufff!

Mine is only 12 letters, I guess I'm lucky

[Spirit]

Originally posted by Michael Malloy
Nikolai Myshkin, Moscow Conservatory
Н. А. Мышкин, Московская консерватория

And just in case the Cyrillic doesn't hold up, here is the web address for the school I have attended two summers:

http://www.rocor.de/Vestnik/20011/html/39schkola.htm

still... his last name is funnier than mine....
("Son of a mouse family" - letterary)...

[Spirit]

Originally posted by alex_t
Well, being a foreigner in Germany I must say that nobody from Germans, French and English people around put an accent correctly in my own family name. I got used to that and don't correct them - maybe it was the same with the character of Ivanova

Oh, you telling me? My family name is 15 letters long, and no one, but no one can get it right...
Ufff!

[Spirit]

Originally posted by Ranger1
Spirit: oy lo,od rusi?

Just an inside joke ignore it everyone



Well she is,don't you remember the Shiva after her father's death? (a time of mourning after death).

I do. I even remember the Rabi Kozlov...


(ve ken, od "rusi", aval ani magdir et atzmi ceudi ^_^ az ani mevakesh )