About
Faux Cyrillic is the practice of replacing letters in Latin text with Cyrillic letters that are similar in appearance. It is often employed in Western media that deals with themes relating to Russia, the Soviet Union, or communism.
Origin
The earliest known use of Faux Cyrillic in popular media dates back to the 1966 American comedy film The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming[1] by Norman Jewison, which utilized Cyrillic letters in its promotional posters.
Modern Usage
Although originally designed in order to look childish, and not as a reference to Eastern European culture, the backwards ‘R’ in the name of the Nu Metal band KoЯn[2] is perhaps the best-known mainstream example of this meme. The 2006 mockumentary comedy film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan[3] also features an example in its stylized title, BORДT.
TV Tropes has an article[4] about Faux Cyrillic which compiles many notable examples.
Examples
Notability
External References
[1]Wikipedia – The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
[4]TV Tropes – The Backwards R