Gopnik
The derogatory expression Gopnik , female: Gopnitsa ( Russian Гопник; Гопница , plural: Gopniki, Gopniks) is a term in Russian jargon for the representatives of the criminal youth or youth with criminal behavior, who often have no education and too weak economic layers of the Society or part of the precariat .
etymology
The expression comes from the Russian abbreviation "GOP" ( Russian ГОП ), Городское Общежитие Пролетариата , the state residence of the proletariat . The Russian word " гоп ", which means something like "jump" or "blow", comes from this abbreviation . The word is derived from the Russian "gop-stop", which in Russian slang means something like assault or robbery. In summary, “Gopnik” means street thieves and hooligans .
Characteristic
Gopnik is above all a lifestyle. For these young people, committing crimes is just one way of spending their free time. Street theft and robbery are primarily not for personal enrichment, but for fun and maintaining authority in the group. For a gopnik it is more important to scare the victim and to show his power and violence . Taking away the money is the final act.
The violence and aggression of the Gopniki are primarily directed against the representatives of various western youth subcultures (such as punks , emo , gothic, etc.) and against people who do not adhere to the unwritten criminal rules of life. Men who appear “ homosexual ” are often victims.
The characteristics of the Gopniki often include tracksuits, alcohol on the street and, clichéd, a preference for squatting ("Russian squatting"). Often passers-by are addressed provocatively by the Gopniki or called to them. Actions aimed at frightening or robbing passers-by are called "Gop-Stop".
See also
- Chav - a similar youthful subculture in Britain .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Жемчужины босяцкой речи - Ростов-на-Дону: Феникс, 1999. (Russian)
- ↑ Юk. К. Александров: Краткий словарь уголовного жаргона. ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Russian).
- ↑ Елена Бессонова. Не говори «гоп», пока его не перепрыгнешь… ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Russian).
- ↑ The Gopniki: inventor of the Russians squat . Russia Beyond the Headlines , April 3, 2016; accessed on January 18, 2018.
