[HPforGrownups] Re: Karkaroffa educator (Was: Snape, A Murderer? )

[MadameSSnape at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 95404

> Carol responds:
> 
> I think you're right that Karkaroff is a good deal older than Snape,
> which may mean that his use of Karkaroff's first name is a sign of
> contempt rather than closeness, though it's impossible to tell based
> on such limited evidence.
=====================

Sherrie here:

I always read it as contempt - I too assumed grey-haired Karkaroff to be 
quite a bit older than Severus, and with that name, either Russian or from the old 
Soviet Bloc area.  In that culture, as I was taught when studying the 
language, to address an unrelated elder by first name only is quite rude; to show 
respect, you use the person's name and patronymic (Igor Ivanovich, e.g.) - unless 
that person was an inferior (cf. Dostoevsky's Dmitri Karamazov referring to 
Grigori, the old family retainer, by first name only).

I assume Snape knows that Karkaroff tried to rat him out - and holds contempt 
for him as a coward.

(As a side note - any other students of Russian out there?  The closest 
cognate I can find to "Karkaroff" is the sound that's used to signify laughter, the 
Russian version of "ha-ha" (which sounds more gutteral than the English).  
Anyone got any other suggestions as to the source of the name?

Sherrie


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