In turbulent 2014, the year when Ukraine experienced a revolution, a change of power, annexation of part of its territory, start of war, and two political elections, dozens of new terms were added into vocabulary of the nation.
Now the foreigners can be
confused when hearing about “a fight between cyborgs and separs,” devastating power of “Yarosh business
card” or seeing a mysterious “PTN PNH” abbreviation written on the cars’ number
plates.
Kyiv Post offers a wartime glossary that would help to
avoid this confusion.
Cyborg literally means half-man and half-machine, but in 2014 the word has
become commonly attributed to brave Ukrainian defenders of Donetsk airport. The
word was used in this meaning for the first time in October of 2014 by one of
Russian-backed insurgents in Donetsk, who witnessed invincibility of the
Ukrainian soldiers and called them cyborgs for that. Myslovo, an online dictionary of neologisms and modern Ukrainian
slang, named cyborg the word of the year.
Ukrop (also, Ukr) literally
means “dill” in Russian, but for those opposed to Ukrainian government, army,
or even nation, it became (initially a derogatory) word for Ukrainians. In the
war-torn Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts it indicates Ukrainian soldiers and
volunteer fighters. This neologism was invented by separatists back in summer
and just like with cyborg it soon
became popular with the Ukrainians. Later it inspired the artists and designers
to produce stripes and T-shirts with a picture of dill and word ukrop that became
commonly worn by Ukrainian volunteer fighters and patriotic civilians.
Separ is a shorten version of the word “separatist” and it is now commonly
used to define the residents of Donbas, who want separation from Ukraine and
often support joining Russia. This term is often used by Ukrainian soldiers to
define their enemies. But both pro-Russian combatants and civilians don’t like
to be called this way.
Colorad that goes from the Colorado beetle is also
commonly used for pro-Russian residents of Ukraine. The reason of this is the
black-and-yellow colors of St. George ribbon, the beloved attribute of
pro-Russian rallies and distinctive feature of pro-Russian militants. For comparison
with the ugly beetle this word is perceived as offensive by pro-Russians.
Vatnik, unlike the two previous terms, has appeared back in November of 2011 thanks
to Russian blogger Anton Chadsky, who used it in a group in Vkontakte (Russian
alternative to Facebook.) Vatnik, originally
a name of a warm cotton-padded Russian jacket that
is still used sometimes in rural areas, has a broad meaning of all people with
imperial Russian ideology. Early in 2014 vatnik received
a more common use in Ukraine. Chadsky had to flee Russia for Ukraine seeking
refuge over persecution.
Later in 2014, a similar term
for overly patriotic Ukrainians was invented. Vyshyvatnik (a mixture of vatnik and vyshyvanka – Ukraine’s traditional embroidered
shirt) is an antipode of vatnik and
defines a person who implicitly trusts Ukrainian propaganda and blindly hates
everything related to Russia.
Yarosh business
card is a popular term that was
born in late April of 2014 after the Russian media shared a story saying that
business cards of Dmytro Yarosh, leader of Right Sector Ukrainian nationalist
party, were found at the site of a bloody shootout at the checkpoint in
Sloviansk. The irony was that the paper business cards were reportedly found inside
a totally burned car. Since then, the term has been mockingly used to define
something deadly and indestructible.
ZhydoBanderivets literally means “Jewish-Banderit” and signifies a Ukrainian nationalist of
Jewish nationality. This term became popular in Ukraine in early spring of 2014
and was a shocking phenomenon for Russian propaganda that tends to show the
Ukrainian nationalist groups as anti-Semitic and even Nazi forces. One of the
most famous Ukrainians who have been referred to as ZhydoBanderivets is
oligarch and Dnipropetrovsk governor Igor Kolomoisky, of Jewish origin.
Kyiv junta is a very popular term in the areas that are now controlled by
separatists and stands for modern Ukraine’s government. The residents of Donbas
often claim they don’t recognize the authority of current government in Kyiv,
the feeling which they often combine with the belief that these authorities are
obliged to defend them, pay out their pensions and salaries and reconstruct
their houses destroyed by war.
Dyvanna Sotnia or “Couch Hundred” is a
mockery term that means people whose social activity is limited by active use
of social networks, where they tend to aggressively express their opinions,
giving advice on how the crisis in the east can be solved. It originates from
the name of traditional Ukrainian military unit “a hundred.”
Krymnash means “Crimea is ours” in Russian and reflects the excitement of the
pro-Kremlin Russian residents about annexation of Crimea. It is often used in
an ironic sense to highlight the vanity of this attainment for common Russians.
Crimea invasion produced two more neologisms. The little green men refers to the Russian
soldiers who didn’t wear insignia when invading the peninsula. Meanwhile,
Russian propaganda prepared its own term for the little green man – polite people. The Russians even
produced a Soviet-style anthem of the annexation with this term in it.
Golden loaf is a term that appeared in late February of 2014 when the EuroMaidan
protesters broke into the mansion of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych and
found, among other treasures, a paperweight in form of loaf of bread made of
about two kilograms of pure gold. This finding became a symbol of Yanukovych’s
pathological thirst for luxury. Now the little models of the loaf can be found
in Ukrainian souvenir shops. The term is used in reference to luxury matched
with bad taste.
Gayrope is a mixture of words “gay” and “Europe” and it is widely used by adherents
of pro-Russian ideology to show the decay of moral and family values in modern
western world. Mykola Azarov, who occupied the post of a prime minister during
all the years of Yanukovych’s presidency, has once warned the supporters of his
party at a rally that the European integration would mean legalization of
same-sex marriages.
PTN PNH is the most popular abbreviation with the Ukrainian army and many civilian
patriots. It can be seen at many of the Ukrainian armored vehicles and weapons
in possession of Ukrainian military, as well as on T-shirts and car number
plates. It’s approximate meaning is (Russian President Vladimir) “Putin, go to
hell”, but the original has a more offensive message.
Kyiv Post staff
writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected]
