Expert: Natasha Kozyreva - 6/3/2009

Question
Dear Natasha,

For Russian-style pancakes, English seems to use both “blini” and “blintz”.

Please could you give me the exact Russian words these words are based on, along with gen. sing. and nom. pl. Also, please give the stress.

Many thanks,

Simon

Answer
Dear Simon,

I was rather baffled by the word blintz at first, then I thought it might come from the mildly folklorish word "блинец" (meaning "блинчик"), which is now very rarely used. However, apparently it is derived from the Yiddish word "blintze".

Blintz normally refers to what we call блинчики с начинкой (stuffed pancakes). Блинчик (блИнчик, блИнчика, блИнчики) is a small pancake (you can tell this from the diminutive suffix).

Blini means блин (блин, блинА, блинЫ).

Блин is also a mild expletive and млин a euphemism for блин.

Best regards,
Natasha