Philology can be that sexy

Internet celebrity Marina Orlova explains the origin of words via Youtube – an interview

The topic

Every week up to 5 million users click her videos in Youtube. She is blonde, she is dressed with wide decollete – and she is an educated philologist: Marina Orlova.
The Russian born is a true celebrity in internet. With her Youtube channel the 28-years-old explains the origin of everyday life words in a charming and exciting way.
“The sexiest philologist in the world” was a recent title of the “New York magazine”. Brain and curves – that’s her recipe to success.

By Kira Frenk

Q: Miss Orlova, you explain the words’ origin via Youtube videos. How did you come to that idea?

ORLOVA: I gave once a class in linguistics, to some 20 students. That was back in Russia. When a mate showed me Youtube, I thought: “Hey, instead of 20 people I can teach to thousands. I’d have never thought that they would become 150 millions.

Q: But honestly: what did drive you really? Did you want to become rich or to spread knowledge?

ORLOVA: I wanted, and want, to teach to as many people as possible. I am just convinced that etimology – i.e. the science about the words’ origin – can fascinate a lot of people. One has just to introduce people to that.
For most young people I knew, it was just ok to be non-educated. And instead of learning, they would move from party to party all day all night. I’d like to motivate to learn. In order to get the young willing to switch on their brain. The brain is like a muscle: if you do not train it, it deteriorates. Use your brain, then something ignites suddenly: then you want to know more and more.

Q: Well, then you have thought of a rather unconventional way to motivate students. Considering your outfits, one doubts whether your audience is interested primarily in knowledge…

ORLOVA: Well, if I had proposed to the viewers just to attend videos with the explanation of words, they would likely react like “For God’s sake!” or so. Origin of words – that sounds boring as such. But if you show a sexy woman in the video, who gives funny and entertaining lessons, then the young people stay tuned. Slowly the words seep into their brain, and there it is: they have learned something, without even noticing it. I am doing just that.

Q: What work did you work on recently?

ORLOVA: Lately I explained the concept of the “Ponzi scheme”. Since the American investor Bernard Madoff had thrown 50 billion dollars in the sand, I was asked about the origin oh that concept. Charles Ponzi had lost 100 billion dollars in 1920 by selling post loans. Since then there is the Ponzi scheme.

Q: Poster of yours, fan articles, a proper merchandising: do you earn enough with the videos and the rest?

ORLOVA: Youtube is meanwhile a full time job. I earn enough money with it. Now I spend all of my time for the videos and the marketing. It took me one year, before the project paid off. At the time I produced videos daily. Now I can afford a rather comfortable life.

Q: How many languages do you master?

ORLOVA: Only Russian and English, but I have studied Latin and Greek as well.

Q: Do you plan to use your knowledge for something different from Youtube in some future?

ORLOVA: I do that already. I have just written a book about etimology, it is going to appear in a few months. Besides I am working at a computer game. But I simply love it. To make videos. And after all, I am viewed by three to five million people every week. Not bad, is it?

Q: Definitely. And therefore now a topical question: the association “Deutsche Sprache” (German language) chose the concept “X-mas” as the most redundant and the most annoying word of the century. In German the word is loaned from English. Please explain something about ist origin.

ORLOVA: X-Mas is short for the English Christmas. It has been used often over the last years due to politically correctness. Not to irritate people that do not celebrate the christian Christmas when exchanging wishes. The concept is being, in fact, abused. But one should know that it existed already 500 years ago. In Greek the word Christ begins with X. Already the ancient Greeks used the X as short for Christ.

Marina Orlova in the web:
http://www.hotforwords.com
http://www.youtube.com/hotforwords

About the person

Marina Orlova (28) was born in Russia. She studied philology at the university of Nischni Nowgorod, in the subjects linguistics and etimology (see keywords), accomplishing two degrees. Special subject: the origin of words. After her degree she has been teaching English and literature for a short time in Moscow, before she moved to the USA in 2003 as au-pair girl. Early in 2007 she published her first videos in her Youtube channel “Horforwords”. Orlova is single: “I have no time for a boyfriend”, she said to Spiegel online. She has just written a book and she plans to have a TV show. Her videos are produced this way: first she investigates the origin of the words. Finally she writes a plot, then it is recorded – she does all that by herself. The concepts explained are requested by the users.

Keywords
Philology is in its widest meaning the science of language and literature. She is splitted into linguistics and literature.
Etimology deals with the origin and the history of words, moreover with the development of words in their meaning and form.

By the way, what are you doing up at 2:23 AM?
Those are my sacred hours.