Why was the word "Soviet" never translated?

[seabhcan]

In 1917 the Russian communists declared the "???? ????????? ???????????????? ?????????" (Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik) - which was reported in English as the Union of "Soviet" Socialist Republics.

The word Soviet, which means something between the words 'advice' and 'parliamentary', was, alone, left untranslated. The question struck me today... Why? Did the reporter not have a Russian-English dictionary to hand? Did he feel it added something to the exotic nature of the name to leave one word untranslated? Was he just unable to decide on a suitable English word?

What ever the reason, the country became known as the "Soviet Union", not the "Parliamentary Union".

[Nagy]

Soviet means a worker's council.

[Podolski]

The term explained something which had never been tried before and was adapted in other countries. You could say the same thing for détente, chauvinism, petit bourgeois, realpolitik, etc, etc.

[seabhcan]

Soviet means a worker's council.

The word literally just means 'council'. The "workers" part is just implied.

[Grumpy Fogey]

Maybe 'conciliar' sounded too ecclesiastical?

[soubresauts]

Deleted

[ivnryn]

You could argue that there was no English word for Soviet, so it couldn't be translated. Thus, a new English word was needed and rather than pick a random word, they just used Soviet.

It seems pointless calling new things by different words in different languages. If it is a new word, then it might as well be the same in all languages.

[Dasayev]

Perhaps because Soviet sounds more menacing than Parliamentary

[cactus flower]

Perhaps because Soviet sounds more menacing than Parliamentary

I love this thread. Thanks to all who have posted.

[Conor the Bold]

Yeah...

Words like Glasnost & Perestroika sound so much more sinister.

Langauge is rife with such alien words.