Hi, Ardith Hinton!   
   I read your message from  09.06.2013 16:56   
   about from Russian again.   
      
   Again there are glitches in Russian NNTP. So I write via Australia. ;)   
      
    AH> their own translations & ask directly or indirectly for help.  I a$$ume   
    AH> when Alexander posts such items that he would like us to proofread his   
    AH> work, even if he neglected to say "F2EP"... [chuckle].   
      
      
   It's truth. I've changed my mailer program to Thunderbird. It has many   
   advantageous features, but now I cannot set up a separate template for   
   each echo. So, make sure, I always imply F2EP. ;-)   
      
      
    RW>>  I should have used the English term of 'astronaut' instead.   
      
      
    AH>           As native speakers of English you & I would probably say   
    AH> "astronaut". Although some sources define "cosmonaut" simply as   
    AH> "astronaut", the majority of my usual references define it as "a Russian   
    AH> astronaut".   
      
   Well, but the USSR was the first in space, so its term "cosmonaut" is a   
   registered term next to "sputnik." Beside this, "astronaut" IMHO is too   
   pompous and incorrect word.   
      
   BTW, Chinese astronaut is "taikongnaut." (taikong (space) and the Greek   
   naut)   
      
      
    AH>           "Astronaut" is certainly in more common use where I come from.   
    AH>  It is less specific than "cosmonaut", and thus we may have to qualify   
    AH> it sometimes... but I wouldn't go so far as to say "cosmonaut" is   
    AH> incorrect.  I guess Alexander is more familiar with the Russian word.   
      
   If in Russia we tell a space story we always call the American guys as   
   astronauts, but the Russian guys are always cosmonauts. Maybe the   
   Russian people know astronomy well, and they think that "astronaut"   
   sounds funny comparatively with the distance of modern space flights.   
      
    AH>           The advantage of using "astronaut" is that there is no   
    AH> confusion over what the author meant; the disadvantage is that we may   
    AH> need to use at least one more word to indicate the country.  OTOH, the   
    AH> advantage of using "cosmonaut" is its economy; the disadvantage is that   
    AH> it may mean different things to different people.  If a cosmonaut = a   
    AH> Russian astronaut, "Russian cosmonaut" is a serious redundancy which I'd   
    AH> (basically) treat as an error.  Until there's more general agreement as   
    AH> to the definition of "cosmonaut", however, I'll let it pass.  :-))   
      
   "Russian cosmonaut" is as correct as "Russian/American sputnik".   
      
   Bye, Ardith!   
   Alexander Koryagin   
   ENGLISH_TUTOR 2013   
      
   --- Paul's Win98SE VirtualBox   
    * Origin: Quinn's Post - Maryborough, Queensland, OZ (3:640/384)