On My Mind: 2-22-18

Poster featuring Svetlana

 Svetlana, Sveta, and Severija - I've been watching and enjoying Babylon Berlin on Netflix. It's a German TV show following a cop new to Berlin who uncovers much more than he signed up for.
One of the characters in the show is Countess Svetlana "Sveta" Sorokina, a white Russian who sings at a cabaret, and who is playing all the sides - she is lover to Trotskyist Alexei Kardakov, right wing industrialist Alfred Nyssen, and is even working for the Soviet secret police.
Svetlana (called Sveta by her lover) comes from the Slavic svet, meaning "light, world". Interestingly enough, it is sometimes used as a translation of Photine, most likely because they have the same meanings. The character is played by a Lithuanian actress named Severija Janušauskaitė. I couldn't find any information on the name, but I assume it's a form of Severa or Severina.

Zaida - At work the other day there was a little girl called Zaida. It was pronounced "ZAY-da" and I thought it had a wonderful, modern, slightly sci-fi sound to it. Zaida is Arabic, and the feminine form of Zayd or Zaid, and means "to increase".

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