Miscellaneous quotes from the Stalin era

Some distinctive Soviet words and quotations, especially from Stalin's time

First posted 990823

Some other distinctive Soviet Russian phrases

Explanation of Russian transcription used here.

Explanation of highlighting of letters: for Russian, it shows stressed pronunciation of vowel. For English, it indicates keyword for alphabetized entry.

Russian English Remark
chërnyj voron Black Maria; Russian literally means "black raven" vehicle for transporting prisoners
xozyain boss when capitalized, "The Boss," a tolerated nickname for the Great Leader and Teacher, commonly used in private by mid-to-high-ranking officials
soratnik comrade-in-arms
kompetentnye organy (Ch.K.)
competent organs VChK- OGPU- NKVD- KGB
ie the appropriate, "competent" authority to deal with spies, saboteurs, etc.; a sometimes-humorous term approved by Chekists.
karayushchij mech (Ch.K.)
punishing sword VChK - OGPU - NKVD - KGB
(approved title)
vernye strazhi revolyucii (Ch.K.)
faithful guards of the Revolution VChK - OGPU - NKVD - KGB
(approved title)
lyubimec partii favorite of the Party Lenin's affectionate reference to Bukharin, in a happier time
chudesnyj gruzin "a marvelous Georgian" an early (1913) reference by Lenin to the future Great Leader and Teacher
devyat' gramm
dat' [komu-nibud'] po devyati gramm(?) nine grams
give [someone his/her] nine grams (Chekist shop-talk)
supposedly the weight of a standard-issue bullet
execute [someone]
NE^P
Novaya E^konomicheskaya Politika N.E.P.
New Economic Policy Official toleration for small capitalists in 1920s, as USSR recovered from ravages of 1918-1921 Civil War.
internacionalizm
proletarskij internacionalizm internationalism
proletarian internationalism From Ozhegov (1988) -- "An ideological and political principle, proclaiming, in contrast to nationalism, the equality, solidarity, and cooperation of all nations."
Contrast with suspect cosmopolitanism.
From Ozhegov (1988) -- "international solidarity of the working class, Communists of all nations in the struggle for common goals, their solidarity with peoples, struggling for national liberation and social progress."
dognat' i peregnat' overtake and surpass
patriotizm
sovetskij patriotizm patriotism
Soviet patriotism From Ozhegov (1988) --
"devotion and love for one's country, one's people."
Contrast with "bourgeois nationalism"

The virtuous opposite of "rootless cosmopolitanism"
realizm
Socialisticheskij realizm realism
Socialist realism Ozhegov: "a tendency in literature and art, setting as a goal the correct depiction of reality in its typical features." Contrast with formalism.

seksot
(from "sekretnyj sotrudnik") "secret collaborator" (ie. informer) term used by KGB
avangard
avangard proletariata vanguard
vanguard of the proletariat from French "avant-garde"
The Party
bditel'nyj
bditel'nost' vigilant
vigilance
yarovizaciya vernalization Pre-treating seed grain with the effects of spring weather (eg heating?), to make it sprout more quickly after planting. T.D. Lysenko, a Stalin-era agronomist (or crank, depending on your viewpoint), gained political favor with exaggerated claims of its usefulness.
devstvennica
celina a virgin (woman)
virgin land, unplowed land N.S. Khrushchov promoted maize (corn) production in semi-arid "virgin lands" of Kazakhstan.
Note that in Russian, the name for the land has nothing to do with the woman.

Russian	English	Remark
chërnyj voron	Black Maria; Russian literally means "black raven"	vehicle for transporting prisoners
xozyain	boss	when capitalized, "The Boss," a tolerated nickname for the Great Leader and Teacher, commonly used in private by mid-to-high-ranking officials
soratnik	comrade-in-arms
kompetentnye organy	(Ch.K.) competent organs	VChK- OGPU- NKVD- KGB ie the appropriate, "competent" authority to deal with spies, saboteurs, etc.; a sometimes-humorous term approved by Chekists.
karayushchij mech	(Ch.K.) punishing sword	VChK - OGPU - NKVD - KGB (approved title)
vernye strazhi revolyucii	(Ch.K.) faithful guards of the Revolution	VChK - OGPU - NKVD - KGB (approved title)
lyubimec partii	favorite of the Party	Lenin's affectionate reference to Bukharin, in a happier time
chudesnyj gruzin	"a marvelous Georgian"	an early (1913) reference by Lenin to the future Great Leader and Teacher
devyat' gramm dat' [komu-nibud'] po devyati gramm(?)	nine grams give [someone his/her] nine grams	(Chekist shop-talk) supposedly the weight of a standard-issue bullet execute [someone]
NE^P Novaya E^konomicheskaya Politika	N.E.P. New Economic Policy	Official toleration for small capitalists in 1920s, as USSR recovered from ravages of 1918-1921 Civil War.
internacionalizm proletarskij internacionalizm	internationalism proletarian internationalism	From Ozhegov (1988) -- "An ideological and political principle, proclaiming, in contrast to nationalism, the equality, solidarity, and cooperation of all nations." Contrast with suspect cosmopolitanism. From Ozhegov (1988) -- "international solidarity of the working class, Communists of all nations in the struggle for common goals, their solidarity with peoples, struggling for national liberation and social progress."
dognat' i peregnat'	overtake and surpass
patriotizm sovetskij patriotizm	patriotism Soviet patriotism	From Ozhegov (1988) -- "devotion and love for one's country, one's people." Contrast with "bourgeois nationalism" The virtuous opposite of "rootless cosmopolitanism"
realizm Socialisticheskij realizm	realism Socialist realism	Ozhegov: "a tendency in literature and art, setting as a goal the correct depiction of reality in its typical features." Contrast with formalism.
seksot (from "sekretnyj sotrudnik")	"secret collaborator" (ie. informer)	term used by KGB
avangard avangard proletariata	vanguard vanguard of the proletariat	from French "avant-garde" The Party
bditel'nyj bditel'nost'	vigilant vigilance
yarovizaciya	vernalization	Pre-treating seed grain with the effects of spring weather (eg heating?), to make it sprout more quickly after planting. T.D. Lysenko, a Stalin-era agronomist (or crank, depending on your viewpoint), gained political favor with exaggerated claims of its usefulness.
devstvennica celina	a virgin (woman) virgin land, unplowed land	N.S. Khrushchov promoted maize (corn) production in semi-arid "virgin lands" of Kazakhstan. Note that in Russian, the name for the land has nothing to do with the woman.

Longer quotations

Spasibo, Tovarishch Stalin, za nashe s-chastlivoe detstvo!	Thank you, Comrade Stalin, for our wonderful childhood!
Esli xotite byt' Chkalovymi, to vypolnyajte prizyv nashego vozhdya i uchitelya Stalina: uchites', uchites' i uchites', chtoby dognat' i peregnat' kapitalisticheskij mir. --Karl Radek	If you wish to be Chkalovs, then obey the call of our leader and teacher Stalin: Study, study, and study, to overtake and surpass the capitalist world!	Valerij Pavlovich Chkalov (1904-1938), one of several pilots lionized in the 1930s Soviet press, flew across the North Pole in 1937. He later died in an air crash.
My najdem tebe druguyu zhenu	We will find you another wife --Comrade Stalin, to his personal secretary Aleksandr Poskrebyshev	Poskrebyshev had appealed for his wife, arrested for being the sister of Trotsky's daughter-in-law
YAbloko ot yabloni nedaleko katitsya.	The apple does not roll far from the apple tree. --(old Russian proverb)	This was often cited in the late 1930s as grounds for purging children of "enemies of the people."

Ideological distinctions

Communism v. socialism

A book of interest, but not used here

Brassey's Soviet and Communist Quotations

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