What is a wandering minstrel-cum-clown? Does Russia still have them? - eviltoast
    • ilex@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      1 year ago

      I’ve heard this before from a Russian speaker. I don’t understand how it got written this way. It drives me a little nuts trying to imagine how it became written as such. A translation that got fucked repeatedly until finally it was only bots reprinting it?

    • animist@lemmy.one
      221·
      1 year ago

      “cum” is Latin for “with” and is sometimes used in English to show that something is two things at once, so “minstrel-cum-clown” would be someone who is both a minstrel and a clown

        • clompy@kbin.social
          7·
          1 year ago

          I wouldn’t consider it odd to see it between two English words. ‘Seminar-cum-workshop’ is one example I found with plenty of search results.
          It’s also used (with the same meaning) in English place names e.g. the Beegees are from Chorlton-cum-Hardy.