FlashOfInsight

Um, I haven't written that Markoff chain generator into the wiki yet, guys. Not my fault. Honest. - MoonShadow

It's spelled 'Markov' when referred to in lectures - but I'm guessing that you first met it in a language other than English? -- TheInquisitor

Heehee. In Part 1A (and for that matter A-level) Chemistry, you encounter something called Markoffnikoff's (or Markovnikov's) rule. I think this is what happens when you try and translate Polish names into English through Russian....

You sometimes get it transliterated - fairly illogically - as W, as well - I think this is when the transliteration comes via German.

In general, it's what happens when different people transliterate from Cyrillic to Latin. B was commonly transliterated as FF in the early 1900s, although more recently it tends to be transliterated V. In a vaguely similar vein, the character I would transliterate as TZ is commonly TS in Yeltsin.