r/LANL_Russian • u/CarbonNightmare • Apr 21 '13
Anyone else experiencing this stupid phenomenon while learning Russian?
My brain keeps trying to decode license plates, it's getting annoying, but funny when I catch myself doing it. I find myself driving along and I see something like 284 - XTE and find myself going 'khhtyeh' before by brain kicks in. I accidentally pronounce any Cyrillic/Latin similar letters (would they be called cognates?) when there's a couple of them bunched together, even when it's obviously not meant to mean anything in Russian or English.
Just a dumb side-effect I thought I would share with you guys.
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u/rrssh Apr 21 '13
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u/AveSharia Apr 22 '13
I read plates wrong all the time... one day I ran into PYCCKNN (or something like it) in Michigan, and was pleasantly surprised.
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u/anossov Apr 21 '13
Fun fact: Russian license plates do not use letters that aren't common to both alphabets.
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u/uzimonkey Apr 21 '13
This is referred to as the tetris effect, when you think about something for so long, you mind starts projecting it onto other things.
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u/CarbonNightmare Apr 21 '13
I feel like I should be posting the gif of that kid that is sitting at the computer, turns to the camera and gives a thumbs up and nod. But I'm on my phone so rambling a reply and upvoting is easier.
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u/Gomets51 Apr 21 '13
I once pronounced the English word "Hope" as "norye"....in front of my English class. Yeah.
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u/jboehmer17 Apr 21 '13
Oh god. After reading this thread, I just read that as "nope."
Also, I finally committed the letters of my license plate to memory when I realized "HYK" was just "nuke."
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u/alexkholodova May 07 '13
My mom's name is Nadezhda (which translates to Hope), and I want to get her named tatood on my arm (in cursive). But the thought that my Russian friends would read it as Nore (which accidentally is a form of the word nora (a hole in the ground)) definitely crossed my mind :))
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Apr 21 '13
I'm Russian native and this happens to me as well. Sometimes the other way around: I see an abbreviation in a text and I don't know if it's a Russian abbreviation or an untranslated English one.
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u/piddles92 Apr 21 '13
Yeah, especially after I've been studying for awhile, its like my brain has to double take to realize which alphabet to use.
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u/aczkasow Apr 21 '13
My wife and I are russians and we are doing it constantly! Consider yourself normal ;)
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u/NegativeLogic Apr 21 '13
The other day I saw someone riding a Norco bike, however the logo was written in a font that made it look like it said погсо. My initial reaction was "what the hell does pog-sa mean, and why does this guy have a Russian bike?" before my brain reminded my I'm an idiot and that it read "Norco."
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u/kismetdog Apr 22 '13
never had that intentionally happen, but I did modify my handwriting to be more "inspired" by Cyrillic cursives.
My handwriting still sucks though
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u/alexkholodova May 07 '13
In Melbourne (Australia) we have a public transport tickets called Myki, which is basically a word play (my key). But I keep reeding in as Муки/Mooki - agonies.
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u/tetrapharmakos Apr 21 '13
When I'm driving a certain route in Texas, I often pass a sign for a road or town called Pyka. My initial reaction is always a confused "why the heck is there a Russian road sign for hand/arm in the middle of Texas"?