Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 September 18

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September 18

Is there a district in Moscow called Kievskaya?

Or is it just the name of a metro station, i.e. would it make sense to say 'I lived in Kievskaya'? Ericoides (talk) 13:23, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

There's Kievsky Vokzal, the Kiev Station, which is one of the major train stations in Moscow, after which the Kiyevskaya metro station is named. The district around those could be called Kievskaya, although it's not its official name (it's part of Dorogomilovo District). --Xuxl (talk) 14:13, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, but are you saying that it "could be called Kievskaya" as a matter of fact or speculation? In other words, is it in use in ordinary Muscovite language as a place? So for example if you said, "I live in St Pancras," most Londoners would think you lived in the railway station of that name. Ericoides (talk) 16:54, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

I don't think this is right, Ericoides. It's many years since I was a Londoner, but I certainly wouldn't interpret "I live in St Pancras" in that way. St Pancras, London indicates that it is more limited than it used to be, but still more than just the station. --ColinFine (talk) 22:57, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, Colin! I stand corrected. Can you think of a London example for my point? St P was the best I could come up with, looking at a Tube map. Ericoides (talk) 05:13, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

Not sure I can, Ericoides. Most London station names are either streets or districts. (Even Victoria, which started out as purely the station name, is now a district). Perhaps Embankment? "I live in Embankment" sounds very odd to me. --ColinFine (talk) 10:10, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

I can't imagine anyone saying they live in Monument, and saying they lived in Mansion House would suggest they were the Lord Mayor. And there's always City Thameslink. Warofdreams talk 10:16, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

Liverpool Street, which to 99% of people would mean the station, yet, of course, one could quite possibly be dwelling in. —SerialNumber54129 ^{paranoia /cheap sh*t room} 10:25, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

(The term 'Vokzal' supposedly comes from Vauxhall station...) Hayttom (talk) 11:55, 20 September 2018 (UTC)

You might try a search for Ки́евская (it would help if you know Russian, which I don't); or, you could simply say "I live near Kievskaya"; presumably Muscovites would understand. 2606:A000:1126:4CA:0:98F2:CFF6:1782 (talk) 18:15, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

Kievskaya, being feminine, refers to the metro station, and is used by locals to designate the area around the station. You would say something like I lived "near Kievskaya" or "around Kievskaya", not in Kievskaya, as it's not a formal district of Moscow. There's no administrative unit smaller than district, but it's still useful to have a more precise designation than Dorogomilovo, which is pretty large. --Xuxl (talk) 19:22, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

it might be idiomatic to say "v rayone metro Kievskaya". Here, "v rayone" just means "in the vicinity of" (can also be used for amounts etc) even though Kievskaya is not, itself, a rayon (district.) Maybe this explains OP's confusion. It's borderline-ok to say "v rayone Kievskoy" but then it's unclear whether you mean the street or the metro station as both are feminine Aecho6Ee (talk) 23:30, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

There are a number of theories Vauxhall#In the Russian language. See also [1] and [2]. I just today learned of the existence of IBM railway station, whose derivation is obvious. 92.31.140.53 (talk) 15:21, 20 September 2018 (UTC)