What does “анекдот (anekdot)” mean in Russian?

This channel tells одесские анекдоты, and that’s a false friend worth catching: an анекдот is not an “anecdote” (a true little story) but a joke, a rehearsed set-piece that builds to a punchline. Telling anekdoty is a genuine social ritual in Russian culture, and Odessa, with its legendary Jewish humour, is its spiritual home.

The setup here: which wife is better, a teacher or a doctor? A teacher always says “Повтори!” (“Repeat it!”), while a doctor says “Следующий!” (“Next!”). The cheeky logic is left to you. Learn анекдот and you can ask a Russian friend to tell you one, the surest way into the culture’s sense of humour.