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Yeterday night, Russia's Proton orbited a military communications satellite "Blagovest 13L", pushing the world's 2018 launch record to astonishing 103 successes, or a 27% jump over the CY 2017. The name is often translated as "good news", which appears to be an attempt to dismantle the portmanteau word into stems. But actually, "blagovest" means the ringing of bells before a church service. But wait! "Blagovestie" means "the gospel", "blagovestvovat'" means to preach the gospel.

Are Russians just doing this to trigger the Muslims? I don't think so. They appear to pick words at random to identify military programs, ostensibly for reasons of secrecy. In another widely publicized case, a self-propelled flamethrower was caled "Buratino" or Pinoccio. Ironically, Pinoccio is made from wood and presumably burns very easily.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at 11:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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