The phrase "old bastard" is well known to native Russian speakers. The part "old" raises no questions for anyone, but what does the mysterious word "hrych" mean in itself? And why it's good to look into the dictionary sometimes.
Who is this bastard?
Let's turn to one of the most authoritative sources in the field of the Russian language - Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. According to him, the meaning of the word "hrych" is "old man", "old man". The dictionary entry contains an example from Pushkin's works, beginning with the words "be quiet, grunt" - without the adjective "old".
But where did this strange word come from?
To determine the etymology of a word, you will again have to turn to dictionaries. There are several versions about the origin of the word "hrych". The etymological dictionary of Max Vasmer connects it with the onomatopoeic "hry", also preserved in the word "grunt". In addition, the dictionary entry mentions the assumption made by Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Trubachev that the origin of the word "hrych" is a relative of the Old Russian"grich" meaning dog.
In Shansky's etymological dictionary we also find information that the word "hrych" is formed in a suffixal way (like the words "owl" or "rook") from the onomatopoeic "khry", which imitated snoring. And the version of the relationship with the word "grych" is mentioned as unlikely.
Scary grunt
The unknown always gives plenty of room for imagination. Those who like to tickle nerves are especially greedy for him. On the Russian-speaking Internet, you can easily find a lot of chilling posts about demonic creatures with the mysterious name "hrych".
Some people even associate the word with Slavic mythology. However, explanatory dictionaries clarify the situation: in modern Russian, "hrych" is nothing more and nothing less than a derogatory name for an elderly person. So the name of an unknown monster from the numerous "creepypasta" can be replaced with "old man" without much loss of meaning.
