From ‘Cod-Eaters’ to ‘Salty Ears’: 6 FUNNY nicknames of Russian citizens
These humorous, historical nicknames belonged to residents of different Russian cities. And, behind each one lies some historical fact or legend.
Residents of Ryazan – ‘kosopuzye’ – ‘skewed-bellied’
At one point, there were many carpenters working in the city. They carried an axe on their belt, which skewed their clothing to one side, so it seemed that they had a ‘skewed belly’.
Residents of Perm – ‘permyaki’ – ‘salty ears’
This Ural city has a long history of salt mining and extraction. It was believed that Permians carried sacks of salt on their shoulders and had themselves “absorbed” salt up to their ears.
Residents of Arzamas – ‘gusyatniki’ – ‘goose keepers’
In this city on the M12 highway from Moscow to Kazan, a special breed of geese was raised on a mass scale. The goose is still a local specialty and an object of street art there.
Residents of Tver – ‘Tverskie kozly’ – ‘Tver goats’
There are about a dozen versions of why the goat became a symbol of the city and a nickname for the locals. One of the most popular legends is connected with Catherine the Great: supposedly, she liked the local bell ringing and ordered the bell ringer to be rewarded, but it turned out that it was a goat that had climbed the bell tower that had been ringing! According to another version, goats were raised in Tver and there was a large production of goatskins.
Residents of Penza – ‘tolstopyatye’ – ‘thick-heeled’
According to legend, the people of Penza were jokingly called ‘thick-heeled’ by commander Alexander Suvorov himself, when he learned that, during the crossing of the Alps in 1799, all the soldiers except the people of Penza had rubbed their feet sore. In reality, however, the city residents wove bast shoes with double soles and thick heels for durability.
Residents of Pskov – ‘skobari’ – ‘staple makers’
‘Skobar’ – the most plausible version is that the locals were nicknamed this way, because of the production of metal staples (‘skoby’) and ‘skobar’ is precisely a master craftsman of staples. According to a folk legend, it was Tsar Peter the Great who called the people of Pskov this, admiring their craft.
Residents of Arkhangelsk – ‘treskoedy’ – ‘cod eaters’
This is probably one of the more obvious nicknames: in this northern region, not far from the coast of the White Sea, cod occupied (and still does!) an impressive place in the local cuisine. And also, because of the harsh climate, the people of Arkhangelsk were sometimes called ‘zamorozhennye’ (literally ‘frozen’!).
