(no subject)

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

I've got a few assorted conversational questions...

Is it normal and polite to use the phrase Вы откуда? Are there any good alternatives to this that mean "Where are you from" other than где вы живёте? (By the way, I picked up this phrase from the movie "Everything is Illuminated" when Alex first meets the old woman in Tranchembrod)

What is the best word for "hobby"? For example, Russian language is my favorite hobby. Is the word увлечение used often in this context? If not, in what context is увлечение used?

Is the most common Russian verb "to lie" лгать? If not, what is? Examples of use would be appreciated.

большой полиглот revisited

[marta-mb.livejournal.com]

A few days ago I asked here about this famous phrase from "Master and Margarita": Я большой полиглот и знаю большое количество языков. This sentence is right grammatically but it sounds wrong, and it's because of:
a) redundant adjective большой
b) pleonastic second part: you should just say either Я полиглот or Я знаю много языков
c) большое количество - this phrase sounds bad in all cases. (Another example of the same bad style is to say "я имею" instead of "у меня есть".)

The question is why Bulgakov inserted this apparently weird phrase in the otherwise ideally polished text? If we look closely at what the second character, Korovyev, is saying throughout the novel, we'll notice that the same redundancy is recurrent in his colloquys with the negative characters. For example:
- Так... - растерянно сказал Варенуха, - мерси. Будьте добры передать мосье Воланду, что выступление его сегодня в третьем отделении.
- Слушаю. Как же. Непременно. Срочно. Всеобязательно. Передам. (...) Прошу принять мои наилучшие, наигорячейшие приветы и пожелания! Успехов! Удач! Полного счастья! Всего!

Isn't that wonderful? The reason for this is to make the people who are used to this sort of empty language become the target of it themselves.