What's With Russia?

For awhile, suddenly, I had a large Russian contingent of readers, checking in every day.

So, I said hello to them in Russian--according to the Google Translate, which I double-checked. You know, translating it back to English to make sure I wasn't saying something like

Привет , у меня есть чума , и это заразно через Интернет
Privet , u menya yest' chuma , i eto zarazno cherez Internet
(Hello, I have the plague and it's contagious over the Internet.)

Plague riot in Moscow, c. 1771

Or a typical Russian insult, like Вы урод , и это не представляется возможным смотреть на вас без слез .

Vy urod , i eto ne predstavlyayetsya vozmozhnym smotret' na vas bez slez . (

(You're a freak , and it is not possible to look at you without tears .)

Add caption

Or a nasty Russian insult, like--

В чём разница между адвокатом и свиньей? Первое — это безмозглый, уродливый, гнусный ублюдок. А второе — всего лишь домашнее животное.   

The first is a disgusting, mindless bastard. 

The second is just a barnyard animal.

(Sorry, lawyer readers. It's just a classic Russian insult.)

No, all I said was, "Hello, Russia. It's amazing that this goes straight to you."


I wonder what toes I stepped on, or if it triggered some alarm that the authorities would be checking on them? (or on you--if you are the Russian readers.)

If so, my most humble apologies. I would not wish that danger on anyone.