Risti (Rist)

1) Cross; 2) Clubs (card suit). Named after Risti kõrts, local source of spiritual succor: the Cross Inn, presumably on the other side of the road. Renamed (1950-1990) as Silikaadi during the Soviet occupation. An interesting aside to this is that the Livonian for ‘person’ or ‘human’ is rištīng, which is pretty instantly recognizable as derived from Christian (Ger. Christin). This is awkward. Since we know that the word ‘cretin’ also comes from Fr. crétin (shortened from the etymologically unfortunate Lat. christianus, see Katoliku Hoov), a term first used to designate persons suffering from the hyperthyroidism endemic in the Vaud canton of Switzerland and described in Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopedia as not only deaf and dumb imbeciles with pendulous goitres and a lack of restraint towards their earthly needs, but also as guardian angels for their families. As to why crétin, the popular (and reasonable) explanation is that even ‘idiots’ can be Christian. An analogous process is not unlikely here: from savage pagan to vanquished wretches, the Teutonic crusaders could at least, most generously, refer to their new Untermensch as Christians, That they used to call themselves kalamīed, men of the fish (see Viru tänav) might, à la JC CTA, have contributed to this (depending, of course, on date of naming).