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Poll (no poll button, so just answer).

The oil city. Official: Nurzhan. My grandfather: Kobozev. Russos: half Kobozev, half Nurzhan depending if their boss is listening.

History for the young: the city was Kobozev, named after Dmitry Kobozev the chekist, until the AMERICANS renamed it in 1993 to make us forget the Soviet times. "Nurzhan", light of life. Very nice name. Very American idea of a nice name.

Which one do you say?

WAKE UP IRAD

Hello Ak, I hope you're well. A couple of small corrections, only because people may read this later:

1. The name came from Pyotr Kobozev (1878–1941), a Bolshevik, not "Dmitry", and he was not a chekist. There is no Dmitry. People mix it up a lot.
2. It was renamed in September 1992, not 1993.
3. It was renamed by President Alimbekov, not by the Americans. The Americans could not pronounce it for two years. I was not there yet but my cousin worked for the Starlight people and he said they called it "Noor-John".

I say Nurzhan, but I understand people who say Kobozev. Their grandparents built it.

Uncle. UNCLE. Last week they removed the term limit. The Governor can now be Governor until the sun goes out. And you are here correcting my DATES?

1992, 1993. Pyotr, Dmitry. The point is the same: somebody else decides what our city is called. Today a Russian general, tomorrow an American, one day Google forgets us completely and we will have to remember ourselves.

Ak_Shumkar posted:

Pyotr, Dmitry. The point is the same

to be fair if somebody called you Dmitry Shumkar you would write nine posts about it

That is DIFFERENT. I am alive and I have a keyboard.

First post. Nurzhan, Refinery No. 1, shift B.

My grandmother was born in a city that does not exist. Kobozev. On her passport it says Kobozev. On her pension book it says Nurzhan. On the bus it says Нуржан. She calls it "here".

I say Nurzhan at work, Kobozev at home, and "the city" when I'm tired. Temir's dates are right, by the way. September 1992. My grandmother remembers because the new signs arrived before the new bread did.

Welcome Kobozev_Kid. That is the best answer anybody will give in this thread. Please tell your grandmother an old man in Chicago says hello.

Ok. New member from the refinery, first post, and he agrees with Chicago. Interesting.

(Welcome. Your grandmother is a hero. The signs before the bread, this is the whole history of Irad in one sentence. I am writing it in the notebook.)

For the record, since we are doing corrections: "Nurzhan" is Kipchak, "light of life". It is not a person and not an American invention. Americans did not invent any of our words. They invented some of our spellings, which is worse.

Late, but: my family came to Kobozev in 1937 on a train nobody asked for. We say Nurzhan. We have changed enough names in this family, we don't need more drama about the city.

Koryoin_Lena posted:

We have changed enough names in this family

This one hurts in a good way.

A legal footnote for this thread: under the new Stadium Order Regulations, "Kobozev!" is a banned chant inside stadiums. So at least in the stands the answer to the question is now fixed by regulation. Everywhere else it is still up to your grandmother.