Hijacking Katyusha

I bet few people know that the word Katyusha is a diminutive for Katya which in itself is a diminutive for Yekaterina, the Russian version of the name Catherine. Russian has a way of making diminutives out of diminutives ad infinitum (much to the chargrin of non-native speakers)

"Katyusha" was the name that Soviet soldiers named the mobile rocket launchers that were very instrumental in turning the tide of the Eastern Front in WWII and helped defeat the Nazi invaders. They named it after a popular wartime song about a girl who is pledging her love and faithfulness to her love who is far away defending her country. It was a name symbolic of love, and hope, and defending your country against a terrible enemy.

Now, these bastards have hijacked the name to use it for their genicidal goals and whenever I hear it, I have to reprogram the way my mind responds to the name.

Bastards.