[Nina]

I am originally from Ukraine and speak Russian and Ukrainian (there is a difference). Why do most Americans I meet think the word ‘Babushka’ means the kerchiefs (headwear) old Russian ladies wear, when it actually means old Russian ladies or specifically grandmothers? Where might this misconception have come from?

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[Christina32057]

I’ve never heard of Babushka meaning a handkerchief; I’ve only heard it being used as a term of endearment, like ‘sweetie’ or ‘honey.’

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[John29389]

Probably they were originally called babushka scarves. Then they just shortened it to babushka. That’s why babushka brings to mind an article of clothing rather than a family member.

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[Vittrad]

I’ve known for quite a while the meaning of babushka (having spent time in Russia), and I find the misconception a weird one that a simple dictionary could clear up. Then again, many languages take words from other languages and make up new meanings for them, or simply make up words that sound like words in other languages and attribute random meanings to them. While I can’t immediately think of an example in English … one example is the made-up German word “handy,” which refers to a cell phone.

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[Mary-Z21950]

I have no idea, but I thought that, too. Thanks for clearing it up. Actually part of me thought they were the head scarf, and part of me thought it was a word for babies. Hmmm.

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[Krista]

I think the responder who indicated the language-to-language borrowing that shifts meanings is likely on track. My family is Polish (on my mother’s side) and Lithuanian (on my father’s side), and although I didn’t grow up bi- or tri-lingual, I did learn to speak and understand just a smidge of each, and both parents and all their siblings (six each) were bi-lingual. In fact, my paternal grandmother was tri-lingual, speaking both Polish and Lithuanian as well as English. I do recollect both my grandmothers using this word to mean headwear in their native languages, the English translation being specifically ‘kerchief. And it was my trilingual grandmother who most frequently used it this way. So perhaps the meaning you refer to derives from speakers of one, or more, other Baltic languages than Russian or Ukranian. In which instance, it’s not a misconception at all, just a different language variant (if you know language derivation principles, in language families it’s not uncommon for related languages to independently and at about the same time develop similar or even identical words sometimes with the same or similar, and sometimes with quite different, meanings. I have also studied language derivation and language history in my day.)

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[Dan31676]

I always thought it meant a small child or infant, like ‘papoose.’ I also thought it was a term of endearment, like the Spanish ‘Mijo’ or the English ‘baby’ or ‘honey.’ Like ‘oyyyy, my li’l Babushka, you’re so sweeeeeeeet….’ *smooch*

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[Geoff21640]

The word means–at least as adopted into American English, as evidenced by Webster’s Dictionary ( http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary )–both old woman and kerchief.

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[J-French21290]

I have a degree in Russian. Here’s the scoop. The word ‘babushka’ means both ‘kerchief’ and ‘grandma’. Here’s the difference: pronounce it bAbushka (emphasis on the first syllable) and you are talking about grandma. Say it babUshka (emphsis on the second syllable) and you’re talking about kerchief. There are a lot of words like this (pronouciation=meaning) in Russian and many other foreign languages, particularly tonal languages like Chinese. Hope that helps.

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[Marion]

Most online dictionaries define babushka as a russian peasant woman’s headscarf. Perhaps this was the original meaning which later came to mean old lady or grandmother.

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