From "Greenwich" to "Village of Green"
"Greenwich" renamed to "Green Village". We've removed prohibited foreign words from the names of shopping malls in Ekaterinburg.
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
Known worldwide for its meridian in London, Greenwich (or Grenewic/Grenevic) has a Saxon origin. It literally translates to "green village" or "village of green".
From "Passage" to "Passageway"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
French passage is plainly just "passageway" in Russian.
From "Anthea" to "Opposed To"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
The name of this mall has roots in Ancient Greece: "Anthea" comes from ancient Greek Ἀνταίος, meaning "opposed to".
From "Veer Mall" to "Whirlwind Mall"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
Most folks are familiar with "mall" from American movies and series, where teenagers often hang out. The word "veer" better suits "opakhalo," which derives from Old Slavic and appropriately means "whirlwind."
From "Limerance" to "Crush"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
In English, limerance translates to "crush."
From "Simaland" to "Land of Salmon"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
Fun fact: "sima" is the name of a fish originating from Japanese that translates as "salmon." It has been colloquially referred to as the "queen of Sakhalin's waters" by enthusiasts.
From "Mega" to "Huge"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
If the TC "Mega" were to be renamed without foreign borrowings, it would have to compete for a new name against the existing "Bolshoi" (Big).
From "Megalopolis" to "Metropolis"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
Remember the ancient Greek "polis" from history class? Well, forget it - it's just "city" or "grad" now.
From "Omega" to "Last"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
In ancient Greek, the letter Ω ("omega") represented an extended [oː]. From this, the letter "omega" came to be in old and church Slavonic alphabets, known under various names such as "ot" and "o."
From "Brands' Stories" to "Brand Foundations"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
The word "brand" traces back to ancient Norse "brandre," meaning "to burn." This name was given to the branding symbol used by herders to mark their livestock.
From "Hermes" to "Stone Pyramid"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
In ancient Greek mythology, Hermes was the god of trade, cunning, and thievery, youth, and eloquence. The name Ερμής means "stone pyramid" in translation.
From "Park house" to "Corral-Home"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
Most would wonder: where does the word "corral" come from in the Russian version? After all, park means park. But no, it comes from parricus (medieval Latin) and means "corral, enclosure."
From "Fan Fan" to "Child's Toy"
| Image Source: Yandex Maps; Anastasia Keda, our site.RU || --- |
We didn't just come up with this: in French, the phrase "fanafan" means not a child, not a doll, but specifically "child's toy".
- On February 28, 2023, President Vladimir Putin signed documents amending the law on the Russian state language to disallow foreign words in official public usage.
- On June 17, 2025, the Russian parliament passed a bill to protect the Russian language, effectively banning foreign words in public spaces. The city of Yekaterinburg already initiated action against cafes and hotels. City authorities stopped approving new signs in English as of the end of 2024.
What words will vanish when the foreign language law goes into effect? Even these phrases could become dangerous to write or speak.
Russian lawmakers banned foreign words. These phrases will soon be deemed risky to use and write.
- News from the world of lifestyle, fashion-and-beauty, food-and-drink, home-and-garden, relationships, travel, cars, education-and-self-development, personal-growth, shopping, career-development, and job-search might soon be labeled as risky due to the Russian law banning foreign words.
- A mall named "Anthea," with roots in Ancient Greece, may have to find a new name to avoid using a foreign word, as it means "opposed to" in translation and could be deemed risky to use.
- The Russian version of "Veer Mall" might need a new name to avoid using foreign words, as the word "veer" better suits "opakhalo," which appropriately means "whirlwind" in Old Slavic.
- The TC "Mega," without foreign borrowings, may have to compete for a new name against the existing "Bolshoi" (Big) due to the Russian law restricting foreign words.
- The Russian translation of "Megalopolis" might need to change to "Metropolis" to remove foreign words, as the Greek "polis" means "city" or "grad" now.
- A shopping center called "Omega" may have to find a new name to avoid using foreign words, as the ancient Greek letter Ω ("omega") represents an extended [oː] and could be deemed risky to use.
- A brand's history section called "Brands' Stories" might become "Brand Foundations" to avoid using foreign words, as the word "brand" comes from ancient Norse "brandre," meaning "to burn."
