I'm NOT a Russian linguist, but I thought I'd take a shot at the signs in Moscow.

The painted window above the entrance to the building Sayid runs out of after killing the "briber" reads "олдхэм фармасьютикалс."

http://getlostpodcast.iimmgg.com/image/ea2a2a5cbe06ed75dd30293e843126da

But this seems to be a tease or something. If you transliterate the Cyrillic lettering into English lettering it reads "Oldham Pharmaceuticals," but the Russian word for pharmaceuticals is медикаменты (English transliteration: medicamenti.) Pharmaceutical, as an adjective, in Russian is фармацевтический (English transliteration: pharmatsevticheski.)

Possibly the same tease with the "стоп" sign on the inside of the gate.
стоп = stop (English transliteration), but the Russian word for "stop" is not стоп.

http://getlostpodcast.iimmgg.com/image/da80c9c87b57f0a98f9d0449f950a3ce

The three signs in the following cap are:
http://getlostpodcast.iimmgg.com/image/4077093700501c05c02ea0942362551e

булочная = bakery (the correct Russian word for bakery)

Красная Площадь = Red Square (also correct Russian)

ВРИСО (English transliteration: VRISO). This doesn't seem to be a Russian word (at least I can't find it in my dictionaries), but an abbreviation or an anagram. Maybe VRISO = VISOR.

This may be pushing, but in my Russian dictionary I did find "ври - see врать."
ври is the imperative of врать, the Russian verb "to lie, or to tell lies." So, possibly, as another tease, a combination of Cyrillic and English, ВРИСО = ВРИ СО = Liar's Company. (I know it's a stretch.)

If you transliterate the Cyrillic lettering into English lettering it reads "Oldham Pharmaceuticals," but the Russian word for pharmaceuticals is медикаменты (English transliteration: medicamenti.) Pharmaceutical, as an adjective, in Russian is фармацевтический (English transliteration: pharmatsevticheski.)

Possibly the same tease with the "стоп" sign on the inside of the gate.
стоп = stop (English transliteration), but the Russian word for "stop" is not стоп.


I think they just transliterated a foreign company's name "Oldham Pharmaceuticals" into Russian which is very common. The word "pharmaceuticals" is similar to the russian word "фармацевтика" (pharmatsevtika) which sounds similar so there's no need for a literal translation.

Стоп does mean stop, so there's no problem there.


ВРИСО (English transliteration: VRISO). This doesn't seem to be a Russian word (at least I can't find it in my dictionaries), but an abbreviation or an anagram. Maybe VRISO = VISOR.

ВРИСО must be an acronym for something. I know that it stands for the "Voronezh Region Institute of Public Relations" but I doubt that's what it is because Voronezh is a city close to but outside of the Moscow area (but Sayid was in Moscow).

I think they just transliterated a foreign company's name "Oldham Pharmaceuticals" into Russian which is very common. The word "pharmaceuticals" is similar to the russian word "фармацевтика" (pharmatsevtika) which sounds similar so there's no need for a literal translation.

Стоп does mean stop, so there's no problem there.




ВРИСО must be an acronym for something. I know that it stands for the "Voronezh Region Institute of Public Relations" but I doubt that's what it is because Voronezh is a city close to but outside of the Moscow area (but Sayid was in Moscow).

Cool. Thanks for the Voronezh find. I agree: I think ВРИСО is an acronym.

Oldham is the name of the man who administered the "truth serum" to Sayid, no?

My main point, though, is why the play on English/Cyrillic? Using олдхэм фармасьютикалс for Oldham Pharmaceuticals is like using хюгос бакери for Hugo's Bakery. It's just using the Cyrillic alphabet instead of the English alphabet.

Cool GX!!! Thanks!!!

Oldham Pharmaceuticals!! Just like Oldham who administers the truth "feel good" sugarcube to Sayid! I never would have known if I hadn't seen this thread!

The writers/producers are so clever!!
100%
VRISO .....looks Latin maybe??? Is it a Latin prefix/suffix?

I typed "Oldham Pharmaceuticals" into Windows live translator and got this for Russian: Оулдхэм фармацевтика, which is what the sign read, except there is a "y" in the first word in this translation

I typed "Oldham Pharmaceuticals" into Windows live translator and got this for Russian: Оулдхэм фармацевтика

my money says that's exactly what the producers did to get the source text to give to the prop people for the sign.

Nice job, GX & Penguin! (Although I don't happen to see where Красная Площадь is in the images, but that's clearly where we're supposed to be.) I'm just happy to have "Oldham" anchored somewhere else in the show!

The other fun thing on the inside-out window is the "32", which is a backwards 23 in its own right.

While I applaud your creativity on ВРИСО, it's too much of a stretch for me. (Perhaps more yoga. :) )