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смотрины

English translation: bride-show (or smotriny)

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Russian term or phrase:смотрины
English translation:bride-show (or smotriny)
Entered by: Alexander Kudriavtsev

06:10 Sep 25, 2000
Russian to English translations [Non-PRO]
Russian term or phrase: смотрины
(Lives of Saints) When the young king's mother decided that he should marry, envoys were sent to all of the provinces of the country to look for and pick out the most beautiful young girls. They were brought to the palace to meet the king and participate in "smotriny" (Russian word for a potential bride beauty contest). Was there anything similar in western countries? Could anyone provide a term? The word "beauty contest" sounds awkward in a religious context :-(
Guzel Nabatova-Barrett
bride-show (or smotriny)
Explanation:
Bride-show will probably be better but you can also use transliteration with the necessary explanation (Oxford Russian Dictionary does that). As for the explanation I do not agree completely with the above. Smotriny meant and sometimes still means the show of a prospective bride merits: her looks, her dowry, her household skills etc. As for the millionaire show this is a bit exagerrated as this ritual was common among the poorest more than among the richest.
Selected response from:

Alexander Kudriavtsev
Local time: 13:00
Grading comment
Thank you very much for your answer, you are right the word "show" is better than "contest" . But the problem was
essencially that the king chose Mary who was the most modest and the quitetest, not only the most beautiful of all.
She was a granddaughter of St. Filaret the Merciful, so the "beauty show" or 'beauty contest" sounded really out of
place.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
nabride show
Gala Connell (X)
nabride-show (or smotriny)
Alexander Kudriavtsev


  

Answers


43 mins
bride show


Explanation:
This term is actually used even now and means exactly this: kind of contest for the very rich people or kings to choose their bride. There is even a game show (see URL below) where the winner marries a millionaire. (I am not sure THIS sounds religious enough, but this is also the translation I found in my Russian-English Dictionary (Prof. Smirnitski).


    Reference: http://www.channel2000.com/sh/entertainment/studio_briefing/...
Gala Connell (X)
Local time: 11:00
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in pair: 4
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs
bride-show (or smotriny)


Explanation:
Bride-show will probably be better but you can also use transliteration with the necessary explanation (Oxford Russian Dictionary does that). As for the explanation I do not agree completely with the above. Smotriny meant and sometimes still means the show of a prospective bride merits: her looks, her dowry, her household skills etc. As for the millionaire show this is a bit exagerrated as this ritual was common among the poorest more than among the richest.

Alexander Kudriavtsev
Local time: 13:00
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in BelarusianBelarusian
PRO pts in pair: 21
Grading comment
Thank you very much for your answer, you are right the word "show" is better than "contest" . But the problem was
essencially that the king chose Mary who was the most modest and the quitetest, not only the most beautiful of all.
She was a granddaughter of St. Filaret the Merciful, so the "beauty show" or 'beauty contest" sounded really out of
place.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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