An Introduction to Russian Acronyms

Does your spouse often give you ЦУ? Have you ever had a ЧП in your private life? Do you know how many сексот worked for the ЧК? This installment of SR will help you to answer these and other questions, and to appreciate the flavor − and often the humor − that acronyms bring to the Russian language.

You may already know that ЧК (Cheka) is short for Чрезвычайная комиссия (emergency commission − predecessor to the KGB), but why would a сексот work there? Strange as it may seem, сексот has nothing to do with sex – it stands for секретный сотрудник (a “secret employee,” i.e. secret agent) recruited by the Cheka and its successor, the NKVD, in the 1930s. This acronym became known to ordinary Russians only with the publication of Anatoly Rybakov’s late-1980s novel, Children of the Arbat, with its insights into the goings-on at the Lubyanka − Russia’s inner sanctum of counterintelligence.

A more democratic acronym is the all-purpose ЧП (pronounced che-pah), which stands for чрезвычайное происшествие (emergency incident). Once used mainly by bureaucrats and law-enforcement bodies, ЧП is now utilized in every imaginable situation. For example, an army lieutenant who catches a drunk soldier in his platoon might term the incident a ЧП in his report. The recent launching of a grenade at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow is a definite ЧП in the diplomatic sense.

In the early 1970s, a meeting of young communists, debating the case of a long-haired student with flared jeans, would call it a ЧП in the life of the school. While a case of adultery might be described as a family ЧП. The recent State Duma scuffle between ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and a female colleague was an example of a parliamentary ЧП.

One ill-conceived acronym even helped to foil a coup d’etat. The plotters of the 1991 attempt to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev and restore Communist rule to Russia chose to call themselves the ГКЧП (State Emergency Committee). It didn’t help their cause any that every news anchor in Russia was making fun of their name.

Another legacy of bureaucracy-speak is ЦУ, which stands for ценное указание (“valuable directive” – a bureaucratic euphemism meaning “advice”). So, if you ever hear “мне не нужны твои ЦУ,” you can be sure that your advice isn’t welcome. 

The spasmodic distribution of the former command economy led to the widespread adoption of the military acronym НЗ (неприкосновенный запас, untouchable stock), which was used mostly to refer to stockpiled food or ammunition. Russians now use НЗ to mean anything they are holding in reserve, whether food or money. For example, in Soviet times, when a chain smoker was sent to a kolkhoz (collective farm) to help bring in the potato harvest, he would always take along an НЗ of cigarettes, in anticipation of a tobacco shortage at the local stores.

Incidentally, kolkhoz (колхоз – коллективное хозяйство, meaning “collective farm”), an acronym born of the now-defunct CCCP (USSR), is now so integral a part of the language that nobody remembers that it is an acronym. Other such words include совхоз (state farm), комсомол (коммунистический союз молодёжи – nion of Communist Youth), and Политбюро (Politburo or political bureau). To say nothing of the ill-famed НКВД, or КГБ (kah-ge-be) or КПСС (kah-pe-es-es; CPSU, Soviet Communist Party).

One acronym that’s hard to get past in Russia is the infamous ГАИ, or Государственная автомобильная инспекция (“State Automobile Inspection” − Russia’s Highway Patrol*). A run-in with the notoriously corrupt гаишники (patrolmen) can at any time turn into a ЧП. Another public safety body that you should stay out of trouble with is the ОМОН (отряд милиции особого назначения, an elite police unit, also known in the West by its acronym), renowned for its less-than-genteel methods.

On Moscow’s streets, you might also be held up by a бомж (bomzh, bum) asking for small change. Бомж stands for Без определённого места жительства (without a definite place of residence). With the transition to a market economy, you will see more and more of this category of people on the street.

If you are planning a trip to Russia in the near future, you should memorize these four letters − СПИД − Russian for AIDS. According to recently-passed legislation, foreigners going to Russia for more than three months will have to prove that they are free of СПИД by producing a certificate to this effect.

The regular traveler to Russia should also be familiar with the letters УВИР (Управление виз и регистраций − Directorate of Visas and Registration). There’s no way around these guys if you want to keep your travel papers in order, and they are specialists in the art of the ЧП.

*A name that has since changed.