Tag: Culture

Historical Insights into the Legendary Seven-League Boots | July 17 2025, 16:42

Here you have the real “fast-walking boots” or, as they were called in Europe, “seven-league boots,” France/Germany, 19th century. Remember, Mr. Ogre in “Sleeping Boy” wore them. You wouldn’t be mistaken to say that they were difficult not only to run in, but even to walk in. Why are they called “seven-league” then?

This is interesting. Actually, their original name in French is „bottes de sept lieues (seven-league boots), and in German — Siebenmeilenstiefel (seven-league boots), from which the name came into Russian.

Regular postal communication in France started in the 15th century when postal stations with horses for exchange were built. The distance between the stations initially was 7 leagues/lieues (about 30-35 km).

Transportations were performed by coaches that had from 4 to 6 horses. The coachman managed them, and on the lead horse sat the ‘fourrier,’ who set the pace of the journey. The work of the fourrier was more dangerous, as in the event of an accident he had more chances of being injured, falling under the carriage wheels or being crushed by a falling horse compared to the coachdriver.

Therefore, fourriers were entitled to special tall and sturdy boots, which, according to some data, were attached to the saddle (but this is not certain). When mounting, he would wear these boots. That is, in these seven-league boots they didn’t even walk, but sat.

These boots were sewn from several layers of treated leather, with wooden soles and iron inserts. In such boots, it was difficult to fall from the saddle, even if one fell asleep, and if one fell sideways, they could withstand the weight of a horse, protecting the rider from serious injuries.

Naturally, such large and heavy boots, which were often dried by the fire, raised questions among children, and the fourriers, smoking their pipes and smiling, would tell them about the magical seven-league boots that one could put on and leap seven leagues in a blink. Undoubtedly, one of these children must have been Charles Perrault 😉

From Forbidden Fruit to Linguistic Roots: The Curious Case of Currants and Smorodina | July 17 2025, 13:09

You know, 99.9% of Americans have never tried blackcurrant. It was legally banned here in 1911 because blackcurrants carried a disease that killed pine trees. And along with it, gooseberries and Kinder Surprise were banned too. It even got to the point where in the USA, purple Skittles are grape-flavored, while in Europe, they taste of blackcurrant.

But today I am thinking about something else. I wondered why in Russian blackcurrant is called ‘smorodina,’ and in English, it’s called ‘currant.’ It turns out that ‘smorodina’ is related to the word ‘smrad,’ which meant a strong smell because, according to our ancestors, it smelled bad. ‘Smrad’ used to mean any strong smell. I don’t know how unpleasant it was for them, but this differentiated it from gooseberries, both of which grew along rivers, hence in Ukrainian and Polish, it’s also called ‘porzeczka’ and ‘porichka,’ especially the red and white varieties. To me, gooseberries even smell stronger.

The English name is also interesting. The English ‘currant’ stems from the Middle English ‘rayson of Corantes’ (‘grapes from Corinth’), where ‘Corantes’ is a distortion of the Greek city Corinth. In the Middle Ages, small dried grapes were actively imported into England from Greece (specifically the region around Corinth) and these dried berries were called ‘raisins of Corinth,’ which later shortened to ‘currant.’ Originally, ‘currant’ referred specifically to raisins, dried grapes (essentially, small raisins). And it still means that in some places.

But then a shift in meaning occurred. Later, when shrubs of the Ribes genus (currant bushes), specifically Ribes rubrum (red currant) and Ribes nigrum (black currant), began to be cultivated in Northern Europe, they were given the same name, since their berries were also small and dark like the Greek raisins. Thus, the word ‘currant’ came to be used to denote both currants and gooseberries 🙂 but later on they were differentiated. Yes, gooseberries and currants turned out to be related both biologically and etymologically.

And do you remember the fairy tale about the good heroes and warriors Dobrynya Nikitich, who fought the three-headed Chudo-Yudo on the Kalinov Bridge spanning the River Smorodina? Well, that river, Smorodina, marked the boundary between the world of the living (Yav) and the world of the dead (Nav).

Stylish Contrasts in “Squid Game” Season 3: Script and Design Highlights | July 17 2025, 04:19

We finished the third season. They did a great job, but I really want to highlight two things — the script and the design. Probably one of the most stylish shows, and they managed to film the third season in such a way that it is simultaneously predictable in some aspects and full of completely unexpected twists in others.

Have you watched it? What did you think?

The Art of Lawn Striping: Creating Light and Dark Patterns with Grass | July 14 2025, 14:42

We constantly drive past fields organized into stripes or checks. I finally found the time to look into how this is done. It’s called lawn striping, and the effect is achieved by bending the blades of grass in different directions.

The direction in which the grass bends determines whether a stripe will be light or dark. When the blades lean away from you, the lawn looks lighter because the light reflects off the broad and long surface of the blade. When the blades lean towards you, the lawn appears darker because you are looking at the tips of the blades (smaller reflective surface) and you see shadows under the grass. Therefore, mowing the lawn in opposite directions (up/down, left/right, north/south, east/west, etc.) creates the greatest contrast between the stripes. Interestingly, since the “color” of the stripe depends on the direction from which you look at it, a light stripe will appear dark if viewed from the opposite side.

This fuss over grass is a very American phenomenon. I overcome my laziness to mow the lawn only when the grass has indecently overgrown (the notion of “indecently overgrown” is also something I adjust each year after receiving tsk-tsk letters from the village administration). My neighbor, however, seems to do it every few days, and I once saw him kneeling in the grass—complaining that someone had dragged something across his lot, dropping some chips in the grass and ruining its perfection. Really, the only thing missing was a pair of scissors in his hands.

The Multi-Functional M1 Helmet: Beyond Battlefield Protection | July 14 2025, 02:26

Today I learned from the museum that in field conditions, soldiers used the steel body of the M1 helmet as makeshift dishware: they boiled water, shaved, washed clothes, etc. The helmet consisted of two parts: a steel outer body and a separate inner plastic or fiber liner (liner), which could be worn separately (for instance, for ceremonies). By the way, it was in military service from the beginning of WWII until the 1980s.

Exploring Farm Freshness: A Visit to an Innovative 24/7 Honor System Store | July 13 2025, 20:39

We stopped by a small farm store on the way. Open 24/7. You grab what you need, money into an envelope, envelope into the slot. Or digitally via QR codes. Bought some soft goat cheese, goat’s milk ice cream, and cucumbers (grown next to the goats). Farm products here are about twice as expensive as store-bought, but they are limited edition, and sometimes unique in the area.