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ArchivesOn russian surnames for a past mascot
Potapych Toptygin... Russian surnames, where given to Mishka the mascot of one of the past olympics... It's meaning would make me understand that symbol, I hope, better (maybe), than it's own creators... If anyone can answer please... :$
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Potapych ...possibly father ...
From a Russian name site:
Topnik (m) -- Omel'ianko Topnik, peasant. 1558. [Tup 396]
Topor (m) -- "axe."
Topor, serf. 1539. [Tup 397]
Dims: Toporok (Iakunka Toporok, tax-collector). 1622. [Tup 397]
Pats: Toporkov (Sukman Toporkov). 1503. [Tup 379]
Toporok (m) -- dim of Topor.
From a Russian name site:
Topnik (m) -- Omel'ianko Topnik, peasant. 1558. [Tup 396]
Topor (m) -- "axe."
Topor, serf. 1539. [Tup 397]
Dims: Toporok (Iakunka Toporok, tax-collector). 1622. [Tup 397]
Pats: Toporkov (Sukman Toporkov). 1503. [Tup 379]
Toporok (m) -- dim of Topor.
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I don't think we need to know the meaning of Toptygin to understand why it was chosen for their Olympic bear. It was already used for a bear in the poem 'General Toptigin', written by Nikolay Nekrasov in the mid-19th century (a comic tale about a bear who takes a chaotic ride in a troika). The bear is actually called Mikhailo Ivanovich, but he is mistaken for general Toptigin by the villagers. So it's meaning may not have anything to do with bears...
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Potapych, like Toptygin, is probably also primarily a literary reference. It's the name of a rather pompous servant in 'A Protégée of the Mistress' by Ostróvsky. Ostróvsky frequently gives to the persons in his plays names that suggest their characteristics. Thus, from the same play, the name MADAM ULANBÉKOV 'hints at a Circassian origin and a tyrannical disposition'. So the meaning of Potapych may be irrelevant: it just 'sounds' pompous. You can read the play here:
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/0/7/2/10722/10722-8.txt
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/0/7/2/10722/10722-8.txt
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thanks, that will do for me (for now) thanks... really... thanks...
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