Philologist Olga Vasilyeva explained where the words “katsap” and “khokhol” came from.
URA-Inform reports this with reference to Glavcom.
She noted that the two words — ; “khokhol” and “katsap” are perceived by Ukrainians as derogatory names for Ukrainians and Russians, respectively. This is how the “Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language” interprets them.
«Khokhol is a hairstyle. Cossacks wore khokhly, that is, forelocks, oseledtsy. Khokhol is definitely not as offensive as “katsap”. «Katsap ” – this is a Turkic word, it means “butcher”, “killer”, “butcher”. This word was given to the Russians by the Kazan Tatars, who suffered from the raid of Ivan the Terrible's oprichniks. Russians have no reason to be offended by the address “katsap”, because they are truly cruel. The entire history of Russia is murder, torture, wars of conquest and repression,” ; Olga Vasilyeva explained.
The philologist also added that Belarusians are called “bulbashi”.
“Why be offended by this word, if the national dish of Belarusians is really potatoes,” Olga noted.
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