steamybrian
Established Member
If you include tramways/light rail-
Lebanon Road on Croydon Tramlink
Lebanon Road on Croydon Tramlink
I was just as troubled when I paid my visit. I will ask a local, please hold!I remember visiting that station. It is a very odd name. I have never understood why they decided to name some random suburban station "Belarus"! The area is not even called "Belarus"! It is just a minor small suburban station served by Elektrichka trains. There is nothing significant there. Does anyone know the story behind it? Why did they decide to name some random station in Belarus as "Belarus"?
In the interwar period it was the first station on the Belarusian (Soviet) side of the then border with Poland. It was renamed in 1926, presumably as a patriotic gesture.
No, not quite. Ruskie in this context comes from Rus', i.e. Ruthenia. Ruski isn't the same as Ruskie, as Ruskie is an adjective (the Ruthenian Sands) whereas Ruski is a derogative name for Russians, as you say.In eastern Poland there is Ruskie Piaski (Russian Sands) station. BTW, "Ruski" is an old Polish word meaning "Russian", still used as a derogatory term.
It apparently dates from the 15th century. The area was part of the Ruthenian Województwo of the Kingdom of Poland, so the name would distinguish it from the many other Piaski in Poland.The question is why Ruskie Piaski is called that when the village dates from the 19th century.
Ok, diverting into linguistics.... "Ruski" is either a noun or an adjective. It's the same adjective as "Ruskie" except that the former is the singular masculine form, whereas the latter is plural.Ruski isn't the same as Ruskie, as Ruskie is an adjective (the Ruthenian Sands) whereas Ruski is a derogative name for Russians, as you say.
In Russian not Polish.Ruskie is the term for ethnic Russians, Rossiyane for Russian citizens.
Not pedantic at all, if prompted many Dutch people will point out that their country is actually the 'The Netherlands' and metaphorically roll their eyes at those who persist in using the H word. Just as the capital of the country, as many pub quizzers know to their cost, is not 'Amsterdam'.It keeps getting better ! And "Holland" has been mentioned in the thread -- posts #20, #36 -- Being a pedant, I'm chary of this one: strictly, the proper name of the country concerned, being the Netherlands: Holland properly, just one small coastal segment thereof; but I see that there is a Holland in New York State, and another in Michigan.
There is also Lille Flandres of course - if you consider Flanders to be a potential country in waiting...There is Lille Europe if you consider Europe being a group of countries.
We're always arguing on here about what a "county" is... even "country" is open to a degree of interpretation!How many English people call their country England or Great Britain?
It excludes Northern Ireland.
How many English people call their country England or Great Britain?
It excludes Northern Ireland.
We're always arguing on here about what a "county" is... even "country" is open to a degree of interpretation!
Waterloo stations (London and Merseyside)not after a country but Waterloo station and Waterloo in Belgium
In theory....possibly. However the Vatican City station - at the end of the less than 1 km long branch line from Roma San Pietro - is a private station with no publicly-advertised passenger service. It has, however, been visited by at least one railtour in the last 10-15 years.Vatican city?
There is regular service from Vatican City, every Saturday in fact - although from what I can tell the only way to get on it is with a special museum ticket.In theory....possibly. However the Vatican City station - at the end of the less than 1 km long branch line from Roma San Pietro - is a private station with no publicly-advertised passenger service. It has, however, been visited by at least one railtour in the last 10-15 years.
This is a very welcome initiative which started this Summer and will be very popular with Italian and foreign 'track-bashers'. However it is a special one-day-per week tourist service requiring advance booking and local city transport tickets are not valid.There is regular service from Vatican City, every Saturday in fact - although from what I can tell the only way to get on it is with a special museum ticket.
If we are talking tram stops, Prague also offers Italská and Ruská, which like most stops there are named after highways crossing the tram route. The area S of Náměstí Míru has quite a few streets named after countries or capital cities - in fact Bruselská also gives its name to a tram stop.Sparta tram stop in Prague, named for the football team rather than the ancient Greek city-state.
All the references in your link to PWN for ruski meaning Russian are marked colloquial or pejorative, except in one place for the language, but even there rosyjski is considered 'proper' Polish.Separately, I feel obliged to point out that in Polish, "ruski" is a valid way to refer to the russian language, and is also valid as an adjective to describe anything russian (in addition to of course the dismissive usage as described above when referring to a Russian person)
if you do not want to offend Russians, especially those who know Polish and know something about the meaning of certain words, it is better not to say "ruski", even for the best of intentions. On the other hand, if you want to show some contempt, ...
Stalingrad is/was not a countryStalingrad on the Paris Metro