Recently, the word "scoop" can be found more and more often on the World Wide Web. First of all, this concerns various Internet discussions, in which some people call their opponents this designation. What does the word "scoop" really mean? Stay tuned and find out!
The original meaning of the word "scoop"
Due to the constant political disputes on the Web, many people have simply begun to forget what kind of material object is actually called a scoop. For those who have forgotten or did not know, we remind you: a scoop is a special shovel designed for garbage collection. We figured it out, let's move on.
Another meaning of the word "scoop"
As mentioned earlier, today the concept of "scoop" has rather a political meaning. Originating during perestroika, this term began to be actively used on the territory of the countries of the post-Soviet space, as a rule, among people who had a negative attitude towards the USSR and those who share the communist ideology. In short, the scoop is both the Soviet Union as a whole and a person who is fanatical about this state. This word is often used in online discussions and real-life disputes toridicule your opponent, thus belittling what he loves and respects.
Obviously, the concept of "scoop" has become widespread not because of its connection with the eponymous shovel for garbage collection. If you call the inhabitants of the USSR "shovels" or "shovels", then this simply will not make any sense. The word became so popular due to the fact that it was similar to the name of the state and the name of the citizenship of its inhabitants. In this context, the "owls" part is the first three letters of the word "Soviet", and the "ok" part is a suffix that gives the name a certain derisive connotation. The suffix "ok" tends to give words a very frivolous and familiar sound. For example, the word "king" often causes a person to associate with a serious and wise leader who is firm in his decisions and decrees. But as soon as the word "king" is said, all seriousness immediately vanishes, and in our thoughts we represent not a courageous and strong leader, but only some kind of pathetic likeness of a state ruler. The same can be said about the "scoop".
Origin of the word "scoop"
Who came up with the idea of calling Soviet people scoops? When exactly did this term begin to be actively used? Oddly enough, such a popular concept, firmly entrenched in the lexicon of many opponents of the Soviet Union, has as many as three theories of origin. Several people claim its authorship at once, and each has its own version.his appearance. Now we will consider them.
Theory 1: Born in a sandbox
The word "scoop" in the sense in which it is used now was first used by the famous musician Alexander Gradsky. His version says that this concept originated when he and his friends drank alcoholic beverages in a children's sandbox. As glasses, his comrades then used children's molds for sand figures, which were forgotten by the children who walked here earlier. Gradsky himself, in turn, did not have enough molds and therefore had to be content with a scoop.
Theory 2: Tourist stigma
"Scoop" is a term that was coined not by one, but by two people at once - culturologists Peter Weil and Alexander Genis. This was the word they used to call tourists from the USSR traveling on the territory of the socialist states.
Theory 3: from the book to life
The author of the concept of "scoop" is Sergei Epshtein - a writer, philosopher and professor of the theory of culture and Russian literature. He claims that this word has actively entered into the everyday life of the Russian language after the release of his novel "Great Owl". In the center of the narrative of this work were characters called "scoops" and "sovchitsy". In the late 1980s, when the perestroika processes were, in fact, beginning to reach their peak, he read excerpts from his novel on the BBC. Perhaps it was from there that it soon leaked into the territory of the Soviet Union.
Looking back at the previous versions, which do not boast good and informative arguments, this theory is currently the most plausible. According to the author, in the context of his story, the "Great Owl" scoop is the name of a member of a certain social stratum. To understand which one, you need to refer to the terminology of this work:
- Great Owl is the name of a country inhabited by owls and people who worship them.
- Sovichi (with emphasis on o) - the name of the inhabitants of this unusual state.
- Sovtsy (shock s) - the ruling elite of the Great Owl.
- Soviets (with an emphasis on e) - the intelligentsia of the Great Owl, which serves the interests of the Soviets.
- Sovschitsy (emphasis on o) - a social stratum, which includes only women. There are representatives of this gender in other social groups, but the Owlgirls consist only of women.
- And finally, Scoops - the name of the representatives of the working class and proletarians of the owl state. According to the plot, the scoops are engaged in the fact that they hunt rodents every day. While trapping their prey, they are constantly hit, scratched and peeled, which is why they have practically no feathers left.
For the first time, an excerpt about the life and way of life of the Soviets was read in the spring of 1989. At that time, a huge number of people from the Soviet countries listened to the BBC, and it is quite possible that some residents were able to draw parallels between the life of the average Soviet hard worker and the life of the so-called scoop.
This theory is supported by the fact that for the first time the use of this word in relation to the citizens of the USSR was officially noted only in the early 90s, and before that there was no mention of it.
Mikhail Epstein himself is dissatisfied with the fact that the term from his work of art began to be called real people. The writer does not deny that it is, most likely, he became its author, but at the same time he does not in any way approve of its use. This is largely due to the fact that the scoops from the "Great Owl", according to the author, were not negative characters, but, on the contrary, creatures that evoke sympathy and compassion (which cannot be said, for example, about Soviets or Soviets).
How do you spell scoop?
This word is very simple in nature, but some people have some problems when trying to stress it. If you belong to this type of citizen, then remember once and for all: in the word "scoop" the stress always falls on the second syllable, and to be more precise, on the second letter "o"!
Now you know how the word "scoop" is spelled, what its original meaning was and when it began to be actively used by residents of the countries of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. We hope that this article was very useful for you, and thanks to it you learned a lot of interesting facts.