It took an e-mail from a Belarusian
friend (whose English is brilliant) to alert me to this new word. Thanks Mish.
It always amazes me how people learn foreign languages when the characters
or alphabet are different. I found it
hard enough learning Latin and French with the same alphabet.
A hypocorism is a pet name or
endearing name, often one using a diminutive affix. For example, in English "Sally '' is a
hypocorism for "Sarah ''.
Similarly, in Russian, Mish is a hypocorism for Mishka. Mishka (Мишка) means bruin which is in turn a
hypocoristic for bear (Medved - Медведь). So Mish is a double hypocorism if
there is such a thing!
Alternatively, hypocorism can be
another word for a euphemism - a mild or indirect word or expression for one
too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
The adjective from hypocorism is
hypocoristic .
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