Russia (Russian Federation) - The World's Largest Country, Spanning 11 Time Zones - Founded c. 862

[Count Bobulescu]

On 4/27/2014 at 2:17 AM, DonRocks said:

Incidentally, the former U.S.S.R. took up *8* time zones - yes, it stretched 1/3 of the way around the world.

I can't help being a pedant............. Current Russia has 11 time zones, 10 contiguous.........USSR breakup did not result in any TZ loss for Russia..

Russian Time Zones

The world's longest regularly scheduled internal flight that you can book a flight on, is in the US, and crosses nine zones, New York to Honolulu.

[DonRocks]

19 hours ago, Count Bobulescu said:

I can't help being a pedant............. Current Russia has 11 time zones, 10 contiguous.........USSR breakup did not result in any TZ loss for Russia..

Russian Time Zones

The world's longest regularly scheduled internal flight that you can book a flight on, is in the US, and crosses nine zones, New York to Honolulu.

Your pedantry is welcome and encouraged here - since we lost Herschel Browne, it has dropped, and I miss it.

One of my favorite Russian idioms - a traditional wish of "good luck" along with the traditional response.

Wish:           “Ни пуха, ни  пера!” ("Neither down, nor a feather!")
Response: “К чёрту!”                     ("Go to the devil!")

What the etymology is, I'm not certain, but I think the exchange is hilarious.

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ETA: I just found the etymology - the wish of good luck is what you'd say to a bird hunter ('I hope you catch nothing!'), similar to saying "Break a leg" to an actor.