"White Russia" now known (perhaps) as Belarus

[Britjan]

I had a chat with a delightful white haired lady who I would "guestimate" was well into her 80's the other day. We started by chatting about a film she had just seen and eventually the conversation turned to our family trees. She told me some of her family came from "White Russia", and related a fascinating story she had discovered by "Googling"!!
I certainly wasn't going to suggest that the term "White Russia " is likely politically incorrect and inaccurate but it's easy to get into dangerous waters.
Wikipedia has the story , it's typical of the region and an interesting read

 

[Gillian]

The link sent by Britjan didn't mention the etymological connection between the English word Russia and the Finnish word for Sweden, Ruotsi, both of which mean 'the men who row'. See this article Rus , also in Wikipedia. The Finnish word for Russia is Venäjä, which is an old Germanic loan word that originally referred to Slavs in general. Sorry, gone off subject a bit.

 

[Britjan]

The Finnish word for Russia is Venäjä, which is an old Germanic loan word that originally referred to Slavs in general. Sorry, gone off subject a bit.

No need to apologise I will "dine out" on that little snippet of information. Who know what awkward lull in conversation it might fill?

 

[Margery]

I will "dine out" on that little snippet of information

Ah, but will you be able to pronounce it?

 

[Gillian]

Good point, Margery, but actually Finnish is easy to pronounce (even if not to understand) because it's almost totally phonetic. With very few exceptions, each letter has only one sound.

 

[BrianTunWells]

I had a chat with a delightful white haired lady who I would "guestimate" was well into her 80's the other day. We started by chatting about a film she had just seen and eventually the conversation turned to our family trees. She told me some of her family came from "White Russia", and related a fascinating story she had discovered by "Googling"!!
I certainly wasn't going to suggest that the term "White Russia " is likely politically incorrect and inaccurate but it's easy to get into dangerous waters.
Wikipedia has the story , it's typical of the region and an interesting read

White Russia is definitely todays Belarus. However, remember that borders changed after both WWI and WWII. There are a number of claims as to the origin of the name "Belarus". Look under the paragraph headed "Entymology".

 

[Gillian]

It may (or may not) interest you to know that the Finnish for Sweden is Ruotsi, which is cognate with the English for Russia, both of which refer to people who row. The Finnish for Russia is Venäjä, which includes the word 'vene' meaning boat. Read all about it here

 

[BrianTunWells]

White Russia is definitely todays Belarus. However, remember that borders changed after both WWI and WWII. There are a number of claims as to the origin of the name "Belarus". Look under the paragraph headed "Entymology".

Sorry - I should have stated that the paragraph "Entymology is here.