Gopnik
Gopnik (Russian: го́пник; IPA: [ˈɡopnʲɪk])[1] is a pejorative term to describe a particular subculture in Russia, Eastern Europe, former Soviet republics, and other Slavic countries to refer to young men or women of lower-class suburban areas (usually under 25 years of age)[2] coming from families of poor education and income, somewhat similar to American white trash, British chavs, Australian bogans and Scottish neds. The female form is gopnitsa (Russian: го́пница), and the collective noun is gopota (Russian: гопота́).
Etymology
Gopnik is most likely derived from the Russian slang term for a street robbery: gop-stop (Russian: Гоп-стоп).[3]
However, it could also be related to GOP, the acronym for the Gorodskoye Obshchestvo Prizreniya. These were almshouses for the destitute created by the Bolshevik government after the October Revolution in 1917. According to Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary, a Russian explanatory dictionary (first published in the 19th century), an old slang word for "sleeping on street" was "гопать" (literally, "to gop") something that was related to the "mazuricks" or the criminals of St. Petersburgh.[3]
Stereotypical appearance and behaviour
Gopniks are often seen squatting in groups ("in court" (на корта́х), "at the pictures" (на карташах), "doing the crab" (на крабе)).[4] It is described as a learned behavior attributed to Russian prison culture.[4] Gopniks usually wear Adidas tracksuits, due to them being popularised by the 1980 Moscow Olympics Soviet team.[5] Sunflower seeds (colloquially semyon (семки), semki (сэмки) or semachki (семечки) ) are habitually eaten by Gopniks. Consumption creates piles of discarded seed husks known as splovvayutstsa (сплёўваюцца).[4]
Gopniks have become infamous for conducting robberies in large groups. [6]
Literature, further reading
- Фима Жиганец. Жемчужины босяцкой речи. Ростов-на-Дону, "Феникс", 1999. ISBN 5-222-00958-0
- Потапов С.М. Словарь жаргона преступников. Блатная музыка. Народный комиссариат внутренних дел, 1990.
- Владимир Козлов. Гопники. Ад Маргинем, 2003. ISBN 5-93321-041-2
See also
References
- ↑ Russian plural гопники (gopniki), also гопота (gopota), and гопари (gopari).
- ↑ Beiträge der Europäischen Slavistischen Linguistik (POLYSLAV)., Volume 8, 2005, ISBN 3-87690-924-4, p. 237
- 1 2 "Британский исследовательский центр предлагает отказаться от слова "гопник"". Англия, Великобритания: энциклопедия, новости, фото. Всё об Англии и про Англию. Аделанта. July 17, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- 1 2 3 Ханипов Р. «Гопники» – значение понятия, и элементы репрезентации субкультуры «гопников» в России // "Social Identities in Transforming Societies"
- ↑ WeirdRussia: Why is Adidas so Popular Among Russians? http://weirdrussia.com/2015/01/04/why-is-adidas-so-popular-among-russians/
- ↑ Yegorov, Oleg (29 March 2016). "Criminals or just misunderstood: Who are Russia’s ‘gopniks’?".
External links
Media related to Gopnik at Wikimedia Commons