Secretary of State Clinton was in Switzerland today, meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss a “reset” of ties between the two nations.
The Obama administration wants a clean slate after the recent Russian invasion of Georgia, and Clinton arrived with a gift; a red plastic button in a green box, emblazoned with the Russian word for “reset” — er, make that “overcharged”.
Turns out the two words aren’t so dissimilar (peregruzka, perezagruzka), and an apparent clerical error resulted in a lost-in-translation moment.
“In a way, the word that’s on the button turns out to be also true. We are resetting, and because we are resetting, the minister and I have an overload of work.”
Clinton deftly joked, at a press conference later in the day.
Time will tell if a new administration will succesfully make and use a clean slate, or if the typo becomes prophetic.
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