theamericans | Question of the week #14

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treonb posting in

The writers of this show seem to have a love for full formal names when it comes to the KGB side of the Cold War. Philip is always Philip, never Phil, and Elizabeth is never Liz or Beth either--and this despite the fact that Russian names all inherently have multiple alternate forms that everyone simply uses as a matter of course. The same goes for Robert, the other Directorate S illegal who we've met, and for that matter, for Gregory (who's not Russian, but whose own culture isn't exactly known for its lack of informal names).

Given this, the question of the week is a two-parter: one, what do you think the writers are up to with this? And two, any thoughts on an explanation for this that works within the world of the show?

You can expect spoilers for the entire first season in the comments.

(There's no expiration date on these questions, so if you're reading this post months later and feel like jumping in, please do.)

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From:

sistermagpie

I can see that being another thing that bugged Elizabeth and not Philip, the fact that they've probably had people shorten their name without thinking about it because their names have such obvious shortened forms. For Philip he probably liked it when guys he spoke to carelessly called him Phil because they couldn't be bothered with the whole name, and so he started using it. For Elizabeth she probably would take it as pushy if somebody casually called her "Liz" or "Beth" or "El" at the playgroup. So now she always introduces herself as Elizabeth and Philip's right there with the "Call me Phil" introduction.

From:

katiac

For Philip he probably liked it when guys he spoke to carelessly called him Phil because they couldn't be bothered with the whole name, and so he started using it.

Yes, that's exactly how I always saw it. Like he probably went by Philip exclusively back in Russia, but once he got over to the US, he would just be soaking everything in, picking up those subtle variations in speech and habits.