On the subject of Pussy Riot

[teddywolf]

Tonight's The Colbert Report is an encore of its February 3 show. Two things strike me about the interview: 1) the two members being interviewed who supposedly know no English responded more than once to Stephen Colbert's questions without their translator relaying the question to them first, suggesting that they understand more English than they are letting on in public; and 2) Mein Gott those activist ladies are gorgeous.

The payoff of the show comes with the closing scene, where Stephen Colbert sends a message to Vladimir Putin on camera--"You leave those girls alone!"--right before donning a Pussy Riot-style neon lime-green balaclava.

I'm tempted to get me a balaclava, take a selfie and give it the legend, "I stand with Pussy Riot."

Comments

[leiacat.livejournal.com]

Understanding language isn't binary. It's not too hard to know enough to pick up the vague gist (or understand a joke via cognates and proper names) without being able to actually speak the language.

Around my family Spouse routinely pulls the trick of answering in English things to things said in Russian, despite not actually knowing the language, just by picking up the right word or two and extrapolating from the context.