4 ms·

Basically, a lot of Russians have no idea how to say 5 pieces of kocherga. Factory workers think they can't spell it because they are just uneducated, but the r

Basically, a lot of Russians have no idea how to say 5 pieces of kocherga. Factory workers think they can't spell it because they are just uneducated, but the reply they get suggests that the management has no idea either. Honestly, I couldn't say it myself before I looked it up when writing this reply, even though I've heard the joke before. The word is untypical.

gcb0 8y ago
what are the words? I'm curious but not knowing russian I have no idea how to even search for this
- Symbiote 8y ago
  Just look the word up in a dictionary and find the declension box. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B0 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%8... So kočergá, kočergí, kočerjóg. English declension is so simple we don't include this information in a typical dictionary entry. ("Poker, pokers, poker's, pokers'")
  - tom_mellior 8y ago
    "Just" looking it up occurred to me too, but that table doesn't help if you don't also point out that for some reason it's entry for the genitive plural that we're looking for.
- hamstergene 8y ago
  All Russians agree on this: 1 kocherga = одна кочерга 2,3,4 kochergas = две,три,четыре кочерги But then it gets ambiguous: 5 kochergas = пять кочерёг? 5 kochergas = пять кочерг? 5 kochergas = пять кочерыг? 5 kochergas = пять кочерег? All of those sound both correct and yet awkward. The first one is officially correct (and I have no idea why).
thaumasiotes 8y ago
Is there any significance to the fact that management divided the pokers 4+1 instead of 3+2? If I was trying to gloss over the fact that I couldn't say "5 pokers", I'd be pretty happy to have the excuse to just match what it said on the requisition form. Something like "You requested 3 kochergi and 2 more kochergi. Here they are."
- Muromec 8y ago
  >Is there any significance to the fact that management divided the pokers 4+1 instead of 3+2? Yes, that indicates that management processed two requests as one. If they would answer 2+3 that would mean they have not noticed what is going on.

gcb0 8y ago

what are the words? I'm curious but not knowing russian I have no idea how to even search for this

Symbiote 8y ago
Just look the word up in a dictionary and find the declension box. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B0 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%8... So kočergá, kočergí, kočerjóg. English declension is so simple we don't include this information in a typical dictionary entry. ("Poker, pokers, poker's, pokers'")
- tom_mellior 8y ago
  "Just" looking it up occurred to me too, but that table doesn't help if you don't also point out that for some reason it's entry for the genitive plural that we're looking for.
hamstergene 8y ago
All Russians agree on this: 1 kocherga = одна кочерга 2,3,4 kochergas = две,три,четыре кочерги But then it gets ambiguous: 5 kochergas = пять кочерёг? 5 kochergas = пять кочерг? 5 kochergas = пять кочерыг? 5 kochergas = пять кочерег? All of those sound both correct and yet awkward. The first one is officially correct (and I have no idea why).

thaumasiotes 8y ago

Is there any significance to the fact that management divided the pokers 4+1 instead of 3+2? If I was trying to gloss over the fact that I couldn't say "5 pokers", I'd be pretty happy to have the excuse to just match what it said on the requisition form. Something like "You requested 3 kochergi and 2 more kochergi. Here they are."

Muromec 8y ago
>Is there any significance to the fact that management divided the pokers 4+1 instead of 3+2? Yes, that indicates that management processed two requests as one. If they would answer 2+3 that would mean they have not noticed what is going on.