Sovok
{{Short description|Pejorative term related to the Soviet Union}}
{{distinguish|Ensign Sovok}}
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Sovok ({{langx|ru|совок}}) is a pejorative term related to the Soviet Union: the state itself, the mindset and way of life of average Soviet people, and vestiges of the Soviet Union in the psychology of people in modern Russia.{{cite book|author=Eliot Borenstein|title=Soviet Self-Hatred: The Secret Identities of Postsocialism in Contemporary Russia|publisher= Cornell University Press|date= 2023}} {{JSTOR|10.7591/j.ctv2t8b73r}}Eliot Borenstein, [https://jordanrussiacenter.org/blog/a-sovok-is-a-person-place-or-thing-russias-alien-nations A Sovok is a Person, Place, or Thing (Russia's Alien Nations)]{{cite journal|first=Людмила Юрьевна| last=Касьянова| url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/otsenochnaya-semantika-novogo-slova|title=Оценочная семантика нового слова|journal= Вестник Челябинского государственного университета|date=2008|volume=9| page= 45–51|lang=ru}}
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Etymology
Borenstein explains the catchiness of the term because it phonetically resembles the concept it is applied to. "Soviet", and it is a repurposed existing term "dustpan".Eliot Borenstein, [https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781501769900-004/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOooQjk0EA5e5Qc1RgqrJEQYnjF2eHEWN9cDiQNuJG84uBd7eUE28 2. The Rise and Fall of Sovok] from Soviet Self-Hatred Several people are commonly credited with the introduction of the term.Михаил Эпштейн, [http://gramma.ru/RUS/?id=14.71 К ИСТОРИИ И ЗНАЧЕНИЮ СЛОВА "СОВОК"] Lyudmila Kasyanova writes that the direct lowly meaning of the term predefines the negative evaluation of the topic and enhances the pejorative perception of the subject it is referring to.
There are a number of derived words: adjective: "sovkovy" ({{lang|ru|совковый}}), "pertaining to 'sovok'"; noun: {{lang|ru|совковость}} ('sovkovost', "sovokness") the totality of the traits of a sovok, and the adverb in {{langx|ru|совково|sovkovo|in a sovok way}}.Толковый словарь языка Совдепии.- СПб.: Фолио-Пресс. Мокиенко В.М., Никитина Т.Г.. 1998.
Soviet Union
In its generic meaning the term implies something dysfunctional, commenting on why things are run poorly or why a person behaves badly. Borenstein writes: "When the Soviet Union is called 'sovok', everyone knows what this means: economic deprivation, administrative incompetence, defective consumer technology, an intrusive public culture, bombastic rhetoric that is easily ignored, and widespread hypocrisy."
Soviet people
Borenstein concisely defines a "sovok" person as "Soviet yokel"Eliot Borenstein, Soviet Self-Hatred, [https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501769887/soviet-self-hatred/ book summary] and the first two chapters of his book Soviet Self-Hatred are devoted to the analysis of this category of people. In the opinion of Alexander Genis, among the features of a sovok are "a violent thirst for equality, a deaf hatred for anyone else's success, and an indolence that blazes energy". {{cite journal|author=Alexander Genis|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2753/RSL1061-197531015|title= Sovok|journal=Russian Studies in Literature| volume= 31|date=1994| issue= 1|page=5–11}}
Modern Russia
Many people think that in modern Russia, despite its transition away from Communism, the negative sovok traits are preserved.[https://archives.colta.ru/docs/7403 Совок-2012. Что такое «совок» и кто такие «совки» в нашей нынешней жизни? COLTA.RU отвечают поэты, писатели, художники, режиссер и музыкант], October 15, 2012[https://www.levada.ru/2012/09/11/sovok-zhivee-vseh-zhivyh/ «Совок»: живее всех живых?], editorial, ''Levada Center, September 11, 2012