Soviet Slang in WW III (incomplete)

[Matt Wiser]

Here's the revived list of Soviet Slang from the war-there was one on the old board...



Soviet Military Slang of the Third World War:


As with most armed forces, the Soviet military and their alllies in the Third World War came up with their own slang terms. Some of them were from World War II, some from Afghanistan, while others were newly invented for their war in North America.

Amis (East German): Americans. Picked up by the Soviets, though Cubans and Nicaraguans preferred Yanqui.

Andruysha: Heavy Rocket Launcher, often used to describe the MLRS system used by the Americans, British, and Canadians. The male version of Katyusha. A Soviet army joke was what would happen if Andruysha and Katyusha got married.

Bandit: Any Guerilla.

Bandit Country: Used to describe any territory not fully controlled by Soviet or Soviet-bloc forces.

Bandit Sweep: Any COIN operation at company level or higher.

Batya (Father): Any commander well liked by his subordinates.

Bison: Pilots' nickname for the Su-17/22 Fitter attack aircraft.

Black-Ass: Originally used to describe Soviet soldiers from Central Asia, later used to describe Libyans.

Brown-Ass: Soviet term for Cubans and Nicaraguans. Use of this term where Soviets and either Cubans or Nicaraguans were in close proxmity was guaranteed to start a fight.

Boer: The British .303 Lee-Enfield rifle. Originated in Afghanistan, and used by Soviet forces in Canada.

Box: Any tank. A Strong Box was a tank that was hard to kill-usually describing the American M-1 series and the British Challenger. Soviet troops also called their tanks by the number (72, 64, 80, 55, 62, etc)

Croccodile: The Mi-24 Hind: also called Gorbach or “Hunchback.” The former is the Soviet Army nickname, the latter is the SAF's.

Crows (SAF): Enemy fighters.

Cuckoo: Any sniper in a forest or wood.

Cucumbers: Artillery Shells.

Desantniki: Airborne or air-assault troops.

Devil's Cross: The USAF A-10 attack aircraft.

Dushmani: Soviet term for the Afghan Mujahaddin. Brought to North America as both a reference and to refer to some of the American Indian insurgents in Colorado and New Mexico.

Fagot: ATGM called the AT-4 by the Allies and NATO.

Falcon (SAF): Friendly fighters.

Grach: Rook: Pilots' nickname for the Su-25.

Grad: BM-21 MRL.

Igla: SA-14 shoulder-fired SAM.

Iron-hard Persistence: Any Commander with a total disregard to casualties suffered by his soldiers.

Kobra: the American AH-1 attack helicopter.

Khorshun: Name for the BMP-1 IFV.

Konkurs: ATGM called the AT-5 by the Allies and NATO

Lioness: Any female British or Canadian soldier.

Osobist: Any member of the KGB “Special Department” attached to battalion and higher commands.

Pechora: S-125 (SA-3) SAM

Pigeons (SAF): Slow flying, vulnerable enemy aircraft.

She-devil: Any female American Soldier

Shilka: ZSU-23-4 SP AA Gun

Slime Suit: Soviet CBW protective suit.

Stern Character: Any commander with extreme ruthlessness towards both the enemy and his own men.

Sunflower Seeds: Small-arms ammo.

Tongue: Any enemy captured specifically for interrogation.

Tunguska: The ZSU-30-2 (2S6) SP AA/SAM vehicle

Villys: Jeep, usually referring to the UAZ-469 light utility vehicle. Also, any four-by-four off-road vehicle as the Soviets and their lackeys impressed captured military and civilian jeeps into service.

Yozh: Hedgehog-the name for the BMP-2 IFV.

Zampolit: Political Officer.

[Craiglxviii]

Do you know, I would love to know how this compares to what slang has developed in the Russian forces in Ukraine.

[Matt Wiser]

Adding a couple:

Grob: Coffin-any armored vehicle (tank/APC) or aircraft that was poorly constructed.

Rear Rat: REMF

[Wolfman]

Adding a couple:

Grob: Coffin-any armored vehicle (tank/APC) or aircraft that was poorly constructed.

Rear Rat: REMF

MiG-23/27 FLOGGER family as an example of a grob…

[trekchu]

Cargo 200: Originating in Afghanistan and originally meant as a way to avoid damaging unit morale, referring to fallen soldiers that are being transported by Air.

Black Tulip: Plans transporting the above, originally referring to various Antonov Aircraft used for this purpose in Afghanistan.

[TheMann]

I'll add a few more:

Afrik: A South African. Usually not used as a term of endearment.

Chekist: A spy or intelligence operative. This usually isn't a positive term either.

Dedovshchina: The semi-formal (they say informal, I call bulls*** on that) hazing of recruits into the armed forces of the Eastern Bloc.

Koloradi: A pro-Soviet American.

Pukalka: A weak weapon. (Means literally "wind blower" in Russian.)

Zmeya: "Snake" in Russian, often used by Russian troops to describe Resistance personnel who act as informers. Also sometimes used by American, British, Canadian or Korean attack helicopter pilots, who often referred to armed helicopters as "snakes".