Muzhik
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Muzhik is an untranslatable Russian word; at base an informal reference to a man, similar to "dude" or "chap."
The word is frequently used as a form of colloquial address among friends, and in other contexts is often used to distinguish a man from a gentleman. Historically, the word muzhik was used to refer to a peasant man, both before and after the freeing of the serfs (1861).
In the English-speaking world, the word is most frequently encountered in translations of Russian literature from before the Russian Revolution (1917); and in early communist writings, such as Lenin's On the 'Nature' of the Russian Revolution (1908).
Also transliterated moujik, mujik, or muzjik.
External links
- "On the 'Nature' of the Russian Revolution" (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1908/mar/26b.htm).